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Diablo 3 : most disappointing game of the year?
- Thread starter Ooccoo
- Start date
Pvp and the general hang-out feel that a lobby provided were the most important reasons it is still popular.
Blizzard shouldn't treat this as a clean slate reset. They had over a decade of feedback to know what did and didn't work.
Ehh, I dont just want more D2, if I did I could just play it. I suppose that might be one of the reasons PoE feels like a dud to me. I wasnt just looking for more D2, its been like 10 years... More.... Way more.
FieryBalrog
Member
They're not; it was a different era and D2 had different expectations. D2 was and remains a deeply flawed game as well.
My main disappointment with D3; the game is too linear and the plot is absolutely terrible.
Not particularly excited about Torchlight 2 either tbh. I may have outgrown the mindless clicking to loot genre.
The second that the money auction went up is when I realized that this game was fundamentally broken in it's emphasis. Also, quite possibly one of the worst endings to a game in the last decade or two. After having the bar set so high by Starcraft II's campaign, this game was destined to be obscured by it's shadow.
Giving items a legitimate monetary value absolutely ruined the game for me, as it made me feel like I had to grind...The most universally reviled aspect of MMO's in this day and age.
And if I drop 10,000,000 for that piece of epic loot, who exactly am I going to show it off to other than my 2 friends that I play with? There's no social space in D3. Really disappointed..The ball was dropped big time.
Giving items a legitimate monetary value absolutely ruined the game for me, as it made me feel like I had to grind...The most universally reviled aspect of MMO's in this day and age.
And if I drop 10,000,000 for that piece of epic loot, who exactly am I going to show it off to other than my 2 friends that I play with? There's no social space in D3. Really disappointed..The ball was dropped big time.
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?
I had to quit my guild in WoW because all they did was keep talking about how bad D3 was. Talking about D3 makes me feel bad.
You quit because of that?
When diablo 2 had premiere game was incredibly fun from act 1 to act 4, people played it day and night with friends via battle.net. 8 players raids were awesome because 1/2 time you got something really awesome. Loot was the reason why people played it so much and with friends it even was better since if you found some awesome sword you could always trade it with friend so if he will found something awesome he will give you it.
Then a year later they released LoD which add runes new items sets 2 new classes 5 act. That gave people reason to look and create new builds.
Later next patch was introduced and gave people few new items and skill stacking. So again people had new chances to create new builds, try different ways of playing.
With new patches they added some things that keep people playing like uber tristam.
How about single player ? /players 8 was amazing thing. You could play diablo 2 which was 8 times harder without anyone to help. So completing hardest def. with /players 8 was something amazing.
Diablo 2 end game was to look for better gear, new character builds, trade items with friends and once again looking for amazing loot. And loot was very good. Not DPS maschines but very varied.
HoodWinked
Member
people diabloed out before diablo 3 was even released. gaming aint the way it used to be people want to feel like they're great without putting in the effort. they'll probably revive decard cain as an angel or something in the expansion.
Interesting counter point.
The only point I'd make in response is that that took place in 2009, fully 8 years after D2 came out. A shitton of theorycrafting had taken place in that time. Let's see what the Internet conjures up in D3 in even 2 years from now!
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?
Yeah ._. I'm not hyperboling when I say that talking about D3 for a long period of time depresses me.
Yeah, so maybe You will watch some of his stream from it, when he plays and discuss it with lead developer.
And if You dont know who Brother Laz is, You should really stop arguing.
I bought SCII day one and was in the beta. That game was unbalanced for almost a whole year after launch. Blizzard is no longer following the "it's finished when it's finished" mantra.
Haven't Kungen and Kripp basically dropped the game over the past month?
Also, aside from the somewhat disappointing gameplay, the game is a piece of shit tech-wise.
I had trouble installing it. I had trouble playing it. And I still have problems every time there's a new patch - I have to download it manually from various websites and replace the sites because I keep getting errors from the launcher.
I had trouble installing it. I had trouble playing it. And I still have problems every time there's a new patch - I have to download it manually from various websites and replace the sites because I keep getting errors from the launcher.
it's funny, before reading this i thought i was the only one...i never thought D3 was bad, however i found myself not wanting to go back to the game once a beat the game on normal. for some reason D2 kept me going back for years, D3 i just can't, and i honestly don't know why that is.
That being said playing Day Z isn't helping either, that game seriously takes up ALL of my gaming time. Day Z is probably the most addicting video game I've played in the past 10 years.
That being said playing Day Z isn't helping either, that game seriously takes up ALL of my gaming time. Day Z is probably the most addicting video game I've played in the past 10 years.
The Hermit
Member
Hopefully by end of the year people will remind about it as much as Deus Ex: Invisible War.
darkpaladinmfc
Member
Which luckily is the most important part for me. If I cared about killing Inferno Diablo in 5 seconds and showing off my ePeen I'd probably hate this game.
No, There's tons of good things about D3 and Gameplay is one of the best parts of it but it's certainly not the only good thing.
michaelius
Banned
Best game i played this year.
edit: maybe i'm not dissapointed because i didn't read much about it and just played beta which made me preorder it on next day
edit: maybe i'm not dissapointed because i didn't read much about it and just played beta which made me preorder it on next day
Coming from someone who still logs on on occasion, Diablo 3 is a massive disappointment, but that's largely because of my expectations.
It was a letdown for sure, but because the core gameplay/combat is actually fun, I still have hope that future patches and expansions can salvage it.
The lack of any information on 1.04 patch is discouraging though. Almost seems as if they've gone on summer vacation after banking on 6M+ sales.
It was a letdown for sure, but because the core gameplay/combat is actually fun, I still have hope that future patches and expansions can salvage it.
The lack of any information on 1.04 patch is discouraging though. Almost seems as if they've gone on summer vacation after banking on 6M+ sales.
Mr. B Natural
Member
When your genre doesn't allow for you to add something like jumping or puzzles to your game, you're not talking about a genre anymore, you're just repeating the same game over and over again. Lara Croft is the same genre, it's just not a clone of D2. It had IDEAS and IMPLEMENTED the ideas very well.
It's like saying it's not a mario platformer because the mini-worlds are set on small planets. Or, platformers don't have jetpacks.
And for god's sakes. There were a whopping 2 diablos before the third one. Why are people acting like Diablo is completely set in stone on how it's "supposed to be." D12 didn't come out this year, D3 did, and even if this was Diablo 12, there is still no excuse for taking 10 years to make the same game again but for minor tweaks and adjustments. Starcraft 2, for gods sakes, didn't have to play exactly like SC1. It was number 2. 2,3,4,5 are all great numbers for changing things semi-drastically to keep relevance and be creative.
That's the other thing I forgot to mention. It's not all Blizzard's fault that their fanbase is as uninspired and stuck in the past as they are.
You do realize that releasing a RTS game that is even 95% balanced is impossible.
Unless you have rock paper scissors units only, and I mean literally those units.
Now? Probobly the second most balanced game among RTSes (only topped by BW).
EDIT:
This is August numbers (one year after release):
Imblanaced? I don't think so. Sure there will always be some % off here and there.
Philthy
Member
It was the only thing interesting in the FF series in the past 20 years. I was pretty happy someone else implemented it.
UncleSporky
Member
So what exactly is wrong with Diablo 3's loot? People always complain about it, but never articulate. I wish I knew more than "it just feels wrong."
Do you never get enchanted items with good effects? Are you always making a choice between the lesser of two evils? Do you not get enough loot? Do you get too much? Are the fun modifiers lacking, everything is just +HP or +energy? Are there way less modifiers than D2, or way more?
Any specific examples? "I found a plain white sword with decent damage and didn't find an enchanted sword with more damage and beneficial effects to replace it until act 3," or whatever.
Or "there are no +skills items, everything is literally just +10 HP, +5% light radius."
Do you never get enchanted items with good effects? Are you always making a choice between the lesser of two evils? Do you not get enough loot? Do you get too much? Are the fun modifiers lacking, everything is just +HP or +energy? Are there way less modifiers than D2, or way more?
Any specific examples? "I found a plain white sword with decent damage and didn't find an enchanted sword with more damage and beneficial effects to replace it until act 3," or whatever.
Or "there are no +skills items, everything is literally just +10 HP, +5% light radius."
I paid $0 for Dota 2 and have played it for over 2000 hours, and will continue to play it for many more.
Besides, fun isn't decided by amount of time poured in or amount of money I make from a game. I've made over $500 from D3. I've spent around 150 hours in the game hoping it'd get better. Diablo 3 is one of the worst games I've ever played. I will never touch another Blizzard game again.
-Boring, awful loot
-Vast majority of spells/rune combinations are worthless
-Boring, awful LEGENDARY loot; the stuff that is SUPPOSED to be cool and change things up and make characters INTERESTING
-Repetitive, linear map design; complete lack of randomization
-Only 4 players online
-Always online
-Huge focus on AH to progress
Bullshit. Good loot are items that make you feel powerful and define your character in interesting ways, like the 'Beast' runeword that turns you into a bear and gives you a crazy aura, even if your class has no bear-transformation spell. A barb with one "good loot" and a barb with a different "good loot" could have radically different skills that are dependent on their specific "good loot" making their build work; now THAT is interesting and cool and fun.
D3 loot is; everyone looks for their main stat + vit, for all resist, for crit damage and crit chance. And then the highest DPS possible on their weapon. There are NO interesting, unique modifiers that truly help define your build.
Impeccable
Member
Oh NeoGAF. I love you.
UncleSporky
Member
I'm not really trying to defend D3 since I haven't even played it and don't really want to, but Beast wasn't available until patch 1.10 in 2003. This was 2 and a half years after LoD and 3 and a half years after the original D2 release.
Anoregon
The flight plan I just filed with the agency list me, my men, Dr. Pavel here. But only one of you!
That's essentially it, yeah. The entire loot design/philosophy in Diablo 3 is just boring and doesn't encourage any kind of creative builds or experimentation. You just look for whatever generic "this makes me better" stats apply to your class, and hope to get drops that have those numbers in slightly higher quantities.
A good example I see when people talk about how badly loot got botched in D3 is how, in D2, specific items actually had enough importance, variety, and even character that you'd remember their bonuses without having to look it up. In D3, everything is just so generic and lifeless that you can't really tell somewhat what your gear is like unless you are starting at your equipment screen.
An ARPG game like D3 survives and thrives around loot, and the desire to acquire it. If people don't find the loot hunt fun, the game fails. Loot design itself has to be significantly improved, expanded, and essentially redesigned (which will never happen) for Diablo 3 to feel like a real, worthy Diablo game.
Anoregon
The flight plan I just filed with the agency list me, my men, Dr. Pavel here. But only one of you!
Why is that a relevant point? The design, mechanics, and implementation of all the cool Post-LoD runewords and other items were around for the entirety of D3's development. Blizzard shouldn't get a free pass for ignoring innovation in their own games, they should be called out on it.
I dont really get what the fuck you are trying to say here. I watch Kripps stream all the time, and I was watching when the developer hopped on and was talking to him in mumble.
Im still not sure what in the hell a few streamers opinion of the game.... streamers who arent ME, is supposed to do for MY opinion of the game.
I didnt enjoy it. What in the hell are you trying to communicate? That because Brother Laz and Kripp like it that I am somehow not allowed to disagree?
And if that isnt your point, then what the hell is exactly? And what the hell do you mean 'arguing?' You think this is a debate? I didn't like the game, period, we aren't debating anything here.... Lord have mercy please dont start with me. Not everyone is going to like the games you do, and "Bu...but Kripparian likes it" isn't going to change anyone's mind. Kripp still plays Diablo 3 often too, and that games endgame is absolute trash.
Listen, this is a D3 thread, if you want to defend PoE's honor from my 'unacceptable' opinion of the game, feel free to take it PM's so I can completely ignore it.
Not only that, but D3 needs a lot more than just interesting loot. I mean, they could shoehorn the cool loot shit from PoE in 5 minutes from now, and how much would you really play? Maybe a few hours, but the game still wouldnt last in terms of replayability IMO. They need to do some deep rooted retooling of D3 in order to establish an actual fun endgame. Ladders and all of that need to come back. Loot is only one aspect of where they screwed up.
It's not THE worst, but it's certainly mediocre. Like literally 6/10 level mediocre.
UncleSporky
Member
This seems like a free pass to bitch about literally anything, since previous examples of things you like exist and everything must always be better than anything that came before it.
Just saying there are previous examples of things improving with time if they are not immediately satisfactory. Guess I have more patience than the average person these days.
A 20% advantage to one side is pretty egregious during some months.
Anoregon
The flight plan I just filed with the agency list me, my men, Dr. Pavel here. But only one of you!
It isn't a matter of a patience. People take issue with the fact that mechanics and designs Blizzard had implemented to great success and popularity seem to have been intentionally ignored and removed, and in that lead to an inferior game. It's an issue of poor design philosophy and fundamental game flaws, and how they shouldn't have happened in the first place because blizzard already had a roadmap to success.
If it wasn't also a Blizzard game and the direct prequel, you'd have a point.
But it is a Blizzard game and this is the direct sequel. It's perfectly justifiable for them to complain when a sequel is inferior to the immediate prior game.
And the fact that it may (not may, it is) better than when Diablo 2 was first released is irrelevant, or at least should be. Especially due to the time between releases.
Personally, I don't think it's as bad as people say. People are just lazier in games than they used to be.
...BUT the loot complaints, Act lengths / rushed feel of things, and lack of randomizations are definitely legit complaints.
To be fair, you arent completely alone in that. I understand what you are saying. Alot of people felt D3 absolutely had to equal the content, depth, re-playability, customizations, and overall breadth that it took D2 years to finally establish. Im not one of those people, I mean, D3 doesnt even have the same team that D2 did. So I didnt expect them to completely equal and surpass D2 in every metric day 1.
But they needed to be closer to the mark then where they landed. D3 just fell waaaaaaay to short. WAY to short. You see this same sort of thing with other games though, GW2 is often times compared to games like WoW that have 8 years of content. Its always been an unfair comparison, but people do it anyway.
UncleSporky
Member
Fair enough. Like I said, I don't plan on partaking in Diablo 3 unless they let me play it offline (which means I will never play Diablo 3).
So Diablo 3 players have to wait for an expac to get good loot? Whatever happen to learning from previous titles.
Well when it takes over a decade for the sequel to come out, yeah, I'm going to complain when D3 isn't a quarter as good as D2. The game barely passes as a bare-bones ARPG. Let's not forget that Blizzard's motto for relase is, "When it's ready!" And if this is what Blizzard considers ready, then I'm not touching a Blizz game again.
I play very few games. I'm one of those kinds of people who stick with a game for years (see: Dota for nearly 8 years now). I had good memories of Diablo 2. D3 is ass and is one of the worst games I've ever played.
Anoregon
The flight plan I just filed with the agency list me, my men, Dr. Pavel here. But only one of you!
I would never consider it the worst game, either of the year or ever. I'm not even sure I'd technically consider it a bad game. I just honestly don't think it is a very good game, and in the spectrum of Blizzard releases, "not very good" might as well be "atrocious dogshit", because anything less than amazing is pretty much a failure. I'm just holding them to their own standards, which up until D3, I had no reason to have qualms with.
The issue now is the gap in Blizzard perception vs player opinion. Blizzard PR is still pushing the "The game is great, but we can make it even better!" line, whereas those of us who are truly disappointed are of the opinion that game isn't great and probably won't be unless significant measures are taken. They could also learn a thing or two from the current FF14 team and actually drop the PR spin from everything they say for a more grounded "look, we know that the game isn't where it should be right now, but we really want it to get there."
They said LONG before the game came out they don't want to let classes use everyone's abilities because cross class abilities breaks the game. I for one agree.
So how do you make loot interesting without cross class abilities?