SnakeswithLasers
Member
Seems since there has been server stability and a 'balance patch' release, it's a proper time to discuss the actual merits of sticking with the game. Here's why I'm not and TLDR is the bolded.
1. The actual click to click game experiences isnt especially fun. My experience as a barb (I have a DH and barb at 60) is: Prior to combat, use my Shout to keep my stats up, then Leap into the enemy for the armor bonus, then hold down left click to attack, all the while, Im mindlessly mashing the Revenge hotkey in case it triggers. If I run into a boss pack its the same, but I trigger Wrath of the Ancients + Earthquake (two minute cooldown spells) to kill them faster, because otherwise Im dead. After a boss fight, I go to town and sell my loot in order to reset my cooldowns so that they are ready in case I run into more bosses. Its not a very deep or challenging experience, and its not satisfying. Theres no skill other than learning the basics and the effective build. The reason for it not being deep or satisfying is
2. The entire game builds to nothing but a gear-check based on random, dumb luck or the use of your wallet. Theres no actual progression. Theres no new content. The only requirement for progression (which Id argue is not really a good use of the term) is that you have the right gear to move forward. Theres not a question of skill or mastery. Anything tactical is just an exploit (and patched out). If you dont meet the gear threshold, you will take too much damage or not kill prior to the enrage timer and you will not move on. There is no build that will minimize this, and there is no skill that can make up for itsince the abilities are all balanced around gear.
3. It's not like progression is an unsolvable problem. In fact, I think WoW handles progression around loot and level quite well and it seems relevant, since the same company made it. In WoW, there are a host of dungeons available to you based on your character level and the gear you possess. Once you play those dungeons a few times you will gear up, and you are then open to a new tier of dungeons, again with loot catered to helping you progress. This goes on, and you see new places and go through new challenges. In Diablo this progression is mind numbingly random. You could get a $250 item in A1 inferno that youll never replace (not likely), or you can get piles and piles of useless loot that will never help anyone (more likely). You can fix this process if you just shell out some cash and let other people do the mind numbing farming for you. But the question remains:
4. Why bother progressing anyway? You have to run Act 1 in Inferno countless times to progress to Act 2. And what is Act 2? Its the same Act 2 that youve played with that character at least three times before. Nothing changes except for the floating numbers, which you can toggle to be invisible.
There is not any new or bonus content for getting further and there isnt even a path to follow through the acts. What I mean by that is if I ding 60 and spend enough money on the AH, I can instantly be able to farm A4 without having to put in any time. I would be immediately and actually advantaged over people who have put any number of hours at 60. Its nothing more than a pay to win system.
5. I dont like pay to win games. The only reason that people arent universally cursing D3 is because Blizzard crowd-sourced their slot machine. If Blizzard itself was selling the 1200 DPS swords for $200, people would be outraged. But since the players are the ones that are doing it, people seem to not mind. So Blizzard balanced a game purely around gear-checks, then they added a mechanism so that people can pay to pass the gear checks. And that isnt bothering anybody because Blizzard is taking 15%. Yet everyone got up in arms when Bethesda sold horse armor for a couple dollars a few years ago.
6. Is anyone at 60 still playing for a reason other than the lottery ticket of the RMAH? Or, rephrased, how many people at max level are having fun just playing the gamedoing the same content over and over again with such a low player-skill ceiling? Is it actually an enjoyable experience moment to moment, on a purely gameplay oriented scale? For example, at any point in Starcraft, or League of Legends, or even Dark Souls, Im having fun because the mechanics are fun and proper use of them allows you to progress. When Im hitting my head against some arbitrary gear hurdle that I have no control over (besides investing an undefined period of time or real money), its certainly not fun. The only fun in the game is in the loot and the chance that its worth money. The actual acquisition of that loot is purely tedious.
7. Overall, Id say the actual game is just middling. It was fun during normal and NM (I think), but the further in I got, the more tiring and repetitive the game became and all of the control went into the random number algorithm and away from me, the player. Admittedly, the RMAH has artificially inflated the games status from a 7 to an 8 in spurts. Its not any more fun than a game that I would classify as average, but I made $30 playing last weekend, so theres that. But thats all there is. No depth other than being a slot machine. Ill sell my gear and pay for the Crusader Kings II and Civ V expansions, because I prefer strategy to Monopolyand D3 is only fun if you land on Boardwalk.
Anyone else quit? Why? Anybody sticking around NOT because of the RMAH? Just curious.
1. The actual click to click game experiences isnt especially fun. My experience as a barb (I have a DH and barb at 60) is: Prior to combat, use my Shout to keep my stats up, then Leap into the enemy for the armor bonus, then hold down left click to attack, all the while, Im mindlessly mashing the Revenge hotkey in case it triggers. If I run into a boss pack its the same, but I trigger Wrath of the Ancients + Earthquake (two minute cooldown spells) to kill them faster, because otherwise Im dead. After a boss fight, I go to town and sell my loot in order to reset my cooldowns so that they are ready in case I run into more bosses. Its not a very deep or challenging experience, and its not satisfying. Theres no skill other than learning the basics and the effective build. The reason for it not being deep or satisfying is
2. The entire game builds to nothing but a gear-check based on random, dumb luck or the use of your wallet. Theres no actual progression. Theres no new content. The only requirement for progression (which Id argue is not really a good use of the term) is that you have the right gear to move forward. Theres not a question of skill or mastery. Anything tactical is just an exploit (and patched out). If you dont meet the gear threshold, you will take too much damage or not kill prior to the enrage timer and you will not move on. There is no build that will minimize this, and there is no skill that can make up for itsince the abilities are all balanced around gear.
3. It's not like progression is an unsolvable problem. In fact, I think WoW handles progression around loot and level quite well and it seems relevant, since the same company made it. In WoW, there are a host of dungeons available to you based on your character level and the gear you possess. Once you play those dungeons a few times you will gear up, and you are then open to a new tier of dungeons, again with loot catered to helping you progress. This goes on, and you see new places and go through new challenges. In Diablo this progression is mind numbingly random. You could get a $250 item in A1 inferno that youll never replace (not likely), or you can get piles and piles of useless loot that will never help anyone (more likely). You can fix this process if you just shell out some cash and let other people do the mind numbing farming for you. But the question remains:
4. Why bother progressing anyway? You have to run Act 1 in Inferno countless times to progress to Act 2. And what is Act 2? Its the same Act 2 that youve played with that character at least three times before. Nothing changes except for the floating numbers, which you can toggle to be invisible.
There is not any new or bonus content for getting further and there isnt even a path to follow through the acts. What I mean by that is if I ding 60 and spend enough money on the AH, I can instantly be able to farm A4 without having to put in any time. I would be immediately and actually advantaged over people who have put any number of hours at 60. Its nothing more than a pay to win system.
5. I dont like pay to win games. The only reason that people arent universally cursing D3 is because Blizzard crowd-sourced their slot machine. If Blizzard itself was selling the 1200 DPS swords for $200, people would be outraged. But since the players are the ones that are doing it, people seem to not mind. So Blizzard balanced a game purely around gear-checks, then they added a mechanism so that people can pay to pass the gear checks. And that isnt bothering anybody because Blizzard is taking 15%. Yet everyone got up in arms when Bethesda sold horse armor for a couple dollars a few years ago.
6. Is anyone at 60 still playing for a reason other than the lottery ticket of the RMAH? Or, rephrased, how many people at max level are having fun just playing the gamedoing the same content over and over again with such a low player-skill ceiling? Is it actually an enjoyable experience moment to moment, on a purely gameplay oriented scale? For example, at any point in Starcraft, or League of Legends, or even Dark Souls, Im having fun because the mechanics are fun and proper use of them allows you to progress. When Im hitting my head against some arbitrary gear hurdle that I have no control over (besides investing an undefined period of time or real money), its certainly not fun. The only fun in the game is in the loot and the chance that its worth money. The actual acquisition of that loot is purely tedious.
7. Overall, Id say the actual game is just middling. It was fun during normal and NM (I think), but the further in I got, the more tiring and repetitive the game became and all of the control went into the random number algorithm and away from me, the player. Admittedly, the RMAH has artificially inflated the games status from a 7 to an 8 in spurts. Its not any more fun than a game that I would classify as average, but I made $30 playing last weekend, so theres that. But thats all there is. No depth other than being a slot machine. Ill sell my gear and pay for the Crusader Kings II and Civ V expansions, because I prefer strategy to Monopolyand D3 is only fun if you land on Boardwalk.
Anyone else quit? Why? Anybody sticking around NOT because of the RMAH? Just curious.
