• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

The first Diablo III expansion is "Reaper of Souls", teaser site is live

Status
Not open for further replies.
Offer servers which have no auction house and I'll think about it.

Maybe.

Ah, who am I kidding. The itemization is such total shit that not having an AH would make playing it impossible.

Fuck off Blizzard. I'm done giving you money for a very long time.
 
ITT: People trying to out-do eachother in how much they can hate Blizzard. It's as if Blizzard killed their first-born child.

Almost Reddit-like levels of groupthink, sjeez.

D3 was fine, it was fun. Could've been better, sure. I, for one, will play this expansion.
 

Lord Panda

The Sea is Always Right
Goddamn Metzen. Someone send him copies of the 'The Elements of Style' by Strunk and co. and 'On Writing' by Stephen King ... he definitely needs to pull his finger out and learn to write.

edit: Actually what's Blizzard's address so that I can mail the books to him myself?
 

twobear

sputum-flecked apoplexy
Goddamn Metzen. Someone send him copies of the 'The Elements of Style' by Strunk and co. and 'On Writing' by Stephen King ... he definitely needs to pull his finger out and learn to write.

Or they could just hire a proper writer, who'd do a better job. See also: Quantic Dream (these guys actually have, to be fair), Kojima Productions, etc.

Although I guess when your game features a story that seems like it was written by a 14 year old and there are still hundreds of people across the internet discussing and analysing it as though it's Shakespeare, there's not much pressure to do that.
 
Or they could just hire a proper writer, who'd do a better job. See also: Quantic Dream (these guys actually have, to be fair), Kojima Productions, etc.

Although I guess when your game features a story that seems like it was written by a 14 year old and there are still hundreds of people across the internet discussing and analysing it as though it's Shakespeare, there's not much pressure to do that.

Let's be fair to Metzen, the story of Diablo and Diablo II was fine. But the ending of D2: LoD was pretty conclusive and they had to invent some crazy shit in order to make another game. The fact that they completely ignore the mechanics of how some stuff worked in D1/D2 when coming up with the story of D3 should be a big hint that they were just making shit up as they went along to contrive their way to another sequel.
 
Offer servers which have no auction house and I'll think about it.

Maybe.

Ah, who am I kidding. The itemization is such total shit that not having an AH would make playing it impossible.

Fuck off Blizzard. I'm done giving you money for a very long time.

You didn't see my post about itemization did you? They're redoing ALL the items in the game.

They're even looking at a ladder system that would be on a different server.

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/9573317487#8
 

Raitaro

Member
Goddamn Metzen. Someone send him copies of the 'The Elements of Style' by Strunk and co. and 'On Writing' by Stephen King ... he definitely needs to pull his finger out and learn to write.

edit: Actually what's Blizzard's address so that I can mail the books to him myself?

Okay, I'll bite: what precisely is so terrible about Metzen's writing and the teaser sentence here? The use of commas? The faux old or heavy style? I'm not disagreeing per se, but I really can't see why it gets so much flak.

As someone who has written a fair amount of texts in his life (mostly for academic purposes though), I also always cringe a bit when people are so adamantly opposed to someone's writing, or when a person feels the need to proclaim their opinion as if it is a universally accepted truth. I can't be the only one who has a tendency to at least admit that my opinion could be different (or wrong even), can I? it is as if confidence is the only value that matters in Western society or something.

I would say that - as with most things - good writing is in the eye of the beholder, but I have noticed (particularly when talking to Americans) that some people feel that good writing always results from using a certain formula or set of rules (as if they are set in stone so to speak). I'm not sure if I can agree with that to be honest (apart from things like using good grammar and spelling of course). Short efficient sentences, while desirable in general, are not the only way to write well, and nor is avoiding commas.

Also, does Gaf's negativity towards Diablo 3 represent the broader view on this game in this case, or is it just contained to this forum? One of the podcasts often mentioned here, The Cruncheons, were actually very positive about the game and they simply couldn't get why other gamers found the game so disappointing. I haven't played it myself (because I'm waiting for the PS3 release), but there seems to be a large rift in perception here and also a lot of "my opinion is the truth" attitude going around.

Oh well, I'll get attacked for getting this (possibly wrong) opinion out there too I imagine...so flame away if this makes you feel better...I don't mind.
 

Yoshichan

And they made him a Lord of Cinder. Not for virtue, but for might. Such is a lord, I suppose. But here I ask. Do we have a sodding chance?
Also, does Gaf's negativity towards Diablo 3 represent the broader view on this game in this case, or is it just contained to this forum? One of the podcasts often mentioned here, The Cruncheons, were actually very positive about the game and they simply couldn't get why other gamers found the game so disappointing. I haven't played it myself (because I'm waiting for the PS3 release), but there seems to be a large rift in perception here and also a lot of "my opinion is the truth" attitude going around.
Everyone I know who stood in line to get the game hates this game. That was about 20 people.
 

Linkyn

Member
Never got all the Diablo 3 hate. I got the game the moment it was released, after which me and my flatmates had the probably most intense gaming marathon of my life. I ended up playing the game for about 5-6 weeks, which is about the time it took me to get my main to 60 and earn the majority of achievements at the time. Even though I haven't played much since, I would never say that the money spent wasn't worth it. After all, I probably got 300+ hours of gametime I sincerely enjoyed for my ~80 euros (or however much the Collector's Edition cost) spent. Sure, the game had its flaws, but it was still quite a bit of fun.
 

V_Arnold

Member
D3 expanded on D2's audience VASTLY.
And at the same time, kinda lost its original audience as well. Or at least a huge chunk of it. That is why it is possible to love and to hate this game.
 
They need to scrap out or redo paragon level system...

They sorta are. From what I remember reading, they're changing quite a lot.

@Raitaro I know a lot of people who loved D2 and put hundreds of hours into D3. A lot of people hate it, but there's a lot of people who enjoy it.
 
So what do you guys think...a 2013 or 2014 release?

Summer 2014 - June(?)

Itemization in November, big patch with mostly UI and skill overhaul stuff in the spring. I'm thinking they'll steal a map system - and they should - from Torchlight etc. not sure if that will hit in Nov. or Spring, got a feeling the Nov. patch will be a huge overhaul though.

And yes, I love this game - play it daily still. My brother plays quite a bit and my dad, who is retired is beyond addicted I think he has like 2700 hours on his Wizard, although admittedly he stands in town a lot.
 

Cels

Member
Are there some bugs that keeps you from playing or something? Blizzard has excellent support for their games. StarCraft and Diablo 2 still gets patches and the servers are still going. Compare that to EA.

I never said bugs were stopping me from playing, so I don't know why you are asking me that question. Bugs aren't a problem with D3. The poor quality of the game is the problem, and the rest of my post which you left out of the quote lists the problems with the game that remain unfixed, which you apparently failed to read.

I'll elaborate:

PvP
Blizzard first said that PvP arenas would ship with the game. Instead, PvP was delayed so it could be patched in later. The game launches in May 2012, and seven months go by. In December, Blizzard says "we're going to give you a very rudimentary dueling system to hold you over while we continue working on the full-fledged PvP system we were supposed to deliver at launch," which they deliver in February. Here we are, another seven months have gone by, and we still don't have PvP. It's been one year and three months since the game was supposed to launch with it. Where is it?

Class Balance
Barbarian is the #1 class. That in itself isn't a problem, because someone has to be #1. No one reasonably expects perfect balance. But Barbs are #1 by an enormous gulf compared to other classes. Wizard/Monk are pretty solid, with WD/DH far behind and needing some serious love.
Let's say you spend 1 billion gold to gear up a DH. You can do some pretty decent farming runs. Well, put all that gear on a monk. The monk has more survivability and kills faster than your identically-geared DH. Hmm.
Hell, let's spend 200 million gold to gear up a barb instead, save that 800 million gold. Your 200 million-geared barb is more durable and more deadly and easier to play than the DH, even though the DH cost 5x the barb. It's been this way for about a year, with Blizzard acknowledging the issue yet failing to do anything at all.

Another thing Blizzard has acknowledged is the poor quality of the current loot system. They've said they're going to overhaul it completely, which is a great start to fixing the game.
Unfortunately they've also stated that this won't be released until next year. And, players most likely won't be getting anything to tide them over, because the developers aren't currently working on a major content patch, meaning that the most likely thing that will happen is that there will be no major patch between now and whatever time next year that the item overhaul patch hits. For perspective, the current patch was released in early May. So in all likelihood it'll be at least seven months before players see any major patches to help the game.
 
I personally hope they completely abandon PvP in all it's forms.

Balance thing sucks but I manage to play for fun on all classes, just on different monster powers. I just leveled a monk and having a blast on MP5 with pretty cheap gear.

I don't have the time to invest in a no AH character - it's something I would love to try.
 

Jarnet87

Member
This will be the first expansion from Blizzard that I will not buy, and I've bought every single one for every single game of theirs. I even bought Hellfire, one of the worst expansions ever.
 

Lord Panda

The Sea is Always Right
Okay, I'll bite: what precisely is so terrible about Metzen's writing and the teaser sentence here? The use of commas? The faux old or heavy style? I'm not disagreeing per se, but I really can't see why it gets so much flak.

As someone who has written a fair amount of texts in his life (mostly for academic purposes though), I also always cringe a bit when people are so adamantly opposed to someone's writing, or when a person feels the need to proclaim their opinion as if it is a universally accepted truth. I can't be the only one who has a tendency to at least admit that my opinion could be different (or wrong even), can I? it is as if confidence is the only value that matters in Western society or something.

I would say that - as with most things - good writing is in the eye of the beholder, but I have noticed (particularly when talking to Americans) that some people feel that good writing always results from using a certain formula or set of rules (as if they are set in stone so to speak). I'm not sure if I can agree with that to be honest (apart from things like using good grammar and spelling of course). Short efficient sentences, while desirable in general, are not the only way to write well, and nor is avoiding commas.

Also, does Gaf's negativity towards Diablo 3 represent the broader view on this game in this case, or is it just contained to this forum? One of the podcasts often mentioned here, The Cruncheons, were actually very positive about the game and they simply couldn't get why other gamers found the game so disappointing. I haven't played it myself (because I'm waiting for the PS3 release), but there seems to be a large rift in perception here and also a lot of "my opinion is the truth" attitude going around.

Oh well, I'll get attacked for getting this (possibly wrong) opinion out there too I imagine...so flame away if this makes you feel better...I don't mind.

Why would I flame you? Anyway rather than bore you with a ponderous reply ('less is more!), please check out this video because this guy says it best ('show don't tell!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8G4lX-MKrgI
 

erpg

GAF parliamentarian
If they aren't giving it away for free, then I'm not coming back. Simple.

Lost all good will they had with 3.
 
I will buy it. I had fun playing through the game with friends. Got around 60 hours out of the game so my money was well spent. Look forward to seeing more.
 

Ploid 3.0

Member
Kill the auction house and I'll buy this blizz

And they should make it playable offline, and support lan while they are at it. Their idea of no duping, no cheating, and no shady stuff happening because they lock the game to their servers failed. They also expected people to play in groups more because it was online only (online only excuse #42), it turned out it was better to play solo, and people do/did. I played solo after messing around in inferno with friends for a while, it became clear that solo was the way to go. In the end the players on PC are hurt by always online. Every time I started a play session I get weird lag when I first start to fight monsters. After a while it goes to normal, but there can be surprise lag as well.
 

John_B

Member
I never said bugs were stopping me from playing, so I don't know why you are asking me that question. Bugs aren't a problem with D3. The poor quality of the game is the problem, and the rest of my post which you left out of the quote lists the problems with the game that remain unfixed, which you apparently failed to read.
It wouldn't make sense to hold back the expansion unless there were severe technical issues that needed to be fixed.

The new content in the expansion will be exclusive, but a lot of stuff like class balance and other changes will still be implemented into Diablo 3 vanilla.

PvP
Blizzard first said that PvP arenas would ship with the game. Instead, PvP was delayed so it could be patched in later. The game launches in May 2012, and seven months go by. In December, Blizzard says "we're going to give you a very rudimentary dueling system to hold you over while we continue working on the full-fledged PvP system we were supposed to deliver at launch," which they deliver in February. Here we are, another seven months have gone by, and we still don't have PvP. It's been one year and three months since the game was supposed to launch with it. Where is it?

The PVP they had in mind was not giving them satisfaction, so they took it back to the drawing board. It's also a feature that would be hard to completely redesign after the fact. Either way your argument is only valid if the PVP system will be exclusive to the expansion, which I doubt it will (perhaps some aspects of it will be exclusive to the expansion).

Class Balance
Barbarian is the #1 class. That in itself isn't a problem, because someone has to be #1. No one reasonably expects perfect balance. But Barbs are #1 by an enormous gulf compared to other classes. Wizard/Monk are pretty solid, with WD/DH far behind and needing some serious love.
Let's say you spend 1 billion gold to gear up a DH. You can do some pretty decent farming runs. Well, put all that gear on a monk. The monk has more survivability and kills faster than your identically-geared DH. Hmm.

Class balance is always an issue in any RPG (all classes eventually got access to Teleport in Diablo 2 etc.). Blizzard did not want to mess too much with people's classes for Diablo 3 as they have done with other games, but some classes/build combinations will see serious changes. And they will also apply to Diablo 3 vanilla.

Another thing Blizzard has acknowledged is the poor quality of the current loot system. They've said they're going to overhaul it completely, which is a great start to fixing the game.
The loot is currently not incredible. It takes time to refine. But the current game is absolutely enjoyable to play. And still, loot changes will also come to Diablo 3 vanilla.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom