Ok, I am not saying D3 will or will not have re-playability, I am just wondering what everyone's opinion is on the matter.
First, what are the features that made Diablo 2 as re-playable as it is, apart from the fact that is was fun.
1) Loot/Hard to obtain items
2) Different characters for different builds
3) Having so many accounts that you forget your password and have to re-level (I had this problem at least 8 times over the duration of Diablo lol, don't judge!)
4) Ladder resets
5) Hard to obtain max level that took awhile to achieve
6) Co-op with friends
7) Custom challenges (iron-mans, pvp tournaments, ect..)
8) Making your builds and character powerful (especially with a non-cookie cutter build )
9) Making a "perfect" character (i.e. stats, gear, skills) all 100% min-maxed.
I am sure the more I think the list could go on and on, but lets stop it here.
Now, since D3 has removed several things from this list, and improved some of them and added a few of its own, lets make a list for D3.
I would just like to point out that these are all speculation based on the info that has been presented to us.
1) LOOT!
2) A plethora of different builds
3) Co-op with friends (albeit less)
4) Custom challenges (I am sure they will be around)
5) Making your builds and characters powerful (especially with a non-cookie cutter build)
6) Inferno and other end-game mechanics that may be included
7) ACHIEVEMENTS!
#3 and will probably add longevity vs D2 because you will have to make more characters to pay with all your friends.
When we look at the D3 list vs the D2 list, there are a few noticeable differences.
The first thing is that D3 will have more character builds, which means there will probably be a larger amount of viable builds, and add a lot more fun and customization on your beloved characters.
However, the most noticeable difference is that D3 will have almost no reason to make multiple types of one class, other than to start fresh with some friends. For example, if I have a WD and I am using him to PvM and the build I am using sucks at killing bosses but is awesome at killing packs of mobs, this is when I would start thinking about a WD build that maybe kills mobs less quickly but kills bosses a little faster. However, in D3, I can just swap a few skills for the boss fight and then swap back. The same can be said for PvP, I can just swap in the PvP skills I like and be on my way. This is good in the fact that your character will feel awesome, and powerful and you would have the frustration of leveling a new character. Although, it does significantly decrease the amount of time people spend re-playing the game.
Also, max level will be achievable for regular humans (no offense ) and you will be able to buy a max level character, so there is less to strive for once you "beat the game". What happens when I beat inferno and have some decent gear? What else is left to do? (These are rhetorical questions to stir your thoughts, I have my own answers for them, but everyone's answers will be different).
Anyways, I am getting hungry . I know there could be more things on each of the lists, but it would take forever to think of them all.
I just wanted to post this to get a discussion going on the re-playability features in D3, what do you think they could improve on, what could they add, what could they get rid of, to improve re-playability?
I also added a poll, just for a little bit more fun.
I really hope I am wrong, but from the information we have right now, I think the replayability will be less due to having no reason to replay classes.
Onde you have all chars at lvl 60, all you can do is get better loot and wait for the expansion. In D2 you always could do a new character to try another build. While allowing free respec saves you time to do another build, saves you time you would spend playing, so you play the game less.
YYou can still replay just to replay the whole game. I never saw the fun in going for lvl 99 . I was more into looting. Also, you could buy max lvl characters in D2 also.
i think achievements alone adds atleast same amount of replayability. weither people will make a 2nd char of same type is unknown to me. I know i will have a pve and pvp char. that way i dont always have to swap gear and runes. so right there thats 2 wizards im going to play. i will also make a new char for different builds. i will have one char that is maxed with gear.. but i dont want to go to inferno to try new build like melee wizard. ill make a new wizard and lvl him as melee, once i get the hang of it i will go to geared as all hell wizard and have fun meleeing inferno to a bloody pulp.
I think crafting and item content are going to be so vast combined, that there will be NO reason to play new chars. Simply make one of each class and craft and trade until your fingers bleed!
Given how much time left I have after family, work, etc., I will be amazingly happy with the value of the game if it's fun to level each class to 60 and play inferno for awhile. The game will be what, $60? If I get 20 hours of play leveling each class to 60 and then get another 100 hours of max level play, that's 200 hours. That's insanely much gameplay for the money. I realize some people want more than that, for them there's always gear farming, opening new accounts, trying new combinations, looking for BiS items, etc. I think that after this game is released the majority of people will think it's everything it needs to be, but there will always be people who want more, even beyond the two expansion packs.
Blizzard can't please everyone, so they please the majority of people who will buy their games. That's just good business sense, diehard fans can say that they should add more endgame content or what have you, but from a business perspective, that's not really that critical. If you buy the game and enjoy it and will buy their next game, that's pretty darn good.
YYou can still replay just to replay the whole game. I never saw the fun in going for lvl 99 . I was more into looting. Also, you could buy max lvl characters in D2 also.
More replayability for me.
In any game, the best replayability mechanism for me is "quality". I can't really count how many times i've finished DI, a game with only 3 classes and relatively low character customisation (about 2 builds for each character).
D3 will surely be a much better game. They are focusing on gameplay quality above anything else. Look at the monster's archetypes, the way each spell is totally unique and just imagine how awesome will be the boss fights.
Also i few numbers may clear up the mind of those who think they will not have enough content in D3.
* Force said the D3 beta takes 2~4 hours to finish.
* The beta covers something between 1/3 and 2/3 of Act 1.
* In the worst case act 1 will take 3 hours to finish. In the best it takes 12 hours. 5 hours sounds like a good guess.
* Assuming all acts, except the last one, have the same leght, i think one playthrough will take 18 hours (a excelent number for a ARPG).
* Theres 4 difficulties (and assuming you will take the same amount of time, wich is pessimistic hypothesis since hell/inferno should be really damn hard). So to "finish" the game with a single character you will take 72 hours.
* The game have 5 characters.
* You will play 360 hours of D3 without counting: DLC content, PvP, item grinding, achievements, theorycrafting outside game, hardcore. 360 hours of intense fun for 50~60U$ ? Hell yeah.
Onde you have all chars at lvl 60, all you can do is get better loot and wait for the expansion. In D2 you always could do a new character to try another build. While allowing free respec saves you time to do another build, saves you time you would spend playing, so you play the game less.
You still need to get all the gear and runes (and gems?) for whatever build you switch to. Sure, some of the gear for your first build will be useful or at least a good placeholder for build 2, but they won't be optimal. The vast majority of d2 was finding and looting optimal equipment.
All the points you guys are brining up are really good. I am trying to play Diablo's devils advocate but I am having a hard time coming up with a coutner argument.
What happens after the game has been out for awhile, the gear is started to get infalted, money is getting inflated, now what? Everyone has everything, except for the VERY uncommon perfect rares, perfect legendries. D2's solution was the ladder reset. What will D3 do to help this balance?
The crafting system (breaking down items) will take some of them out of the market, but will it take enough out?
Went for more. The amount of times I'm going to replay the game to find loots on Inferno difficulty (since there won't be just a few bosses to farm) will guarantee replayability even if I don't have to re-roll characters.
All the points you guys are brining up are really good. I am trying to play Diablo's devils advocate but I am having a hard time coming up with a coutner argument.
What happens after the game has been out for awhile, the gear is started to get infalted, money is getting inflated, now what? Everyone has everything, except for the VERY uncommon perfect rares, perfect legendries. D2's solution was the ladder reset. What will D3 do to help this balance?
The crafting system (breaking down items) will take some of them out of the market, but will it take enough out?
gear wont get as inflated as people are thinking. D2 gear was so inflated because of duping and whatnot, which D3 will have a team constantly countering that. Also they have stated that they will keep patching in gear, weither it be crafting gear or drops. so lets say you get all the top gear, but they patch in a chest that has 10 more str...
I really hope I am wrong, but from the information we have right now, I think the replayability will be less due to having no reason to replay classes.
Onde you have all chars at lvl 60, all you can do is get better loot and wait for the expansion. In D2 you always could do a new character to try another build. While allowing free respec saves you time to do another build, saves you time you would spend playing, so you play the game less.
I think crafting and item content are going to be so vast combined, that there will be NO reason to play new chars. Simply make one of each class and craft and trade until your fingers bleed!
Judging by the vanilla version, I'd say Diablo 3 will be worse off.
However, you cannot ignore the fact that Blizzard has always been committed to improving their games. When you consider they'll be making money from the AH, they will be very motivated to improve replayability and longevity.
In my opinion, you're all dead wrong.
Having all the skills and just changing it (sort of re-spec'ing) doesn't mean you can use the same rune stones you already socketed for that particular build skills you picked to go with, especially if you are in Nightmare or Hell difficulty levels.
Level 1 & 2 skill Runes will be abundant in Normal difficulty level, but the level 3 & 4 Runes would be less abundant, while level 5 & 6 Runes will be scarce.
Let's say you re-spec'ed your level 60 character, it doesn't mean that the Runes you currently have will have the desired effect that you like for the new skills you choose.
Say I have chosen Indigo Rune for the Cluster Arrow skill of the Demon Hunter, wherein the Demon Hunter fires an arrow with a cluster of bombs, which explodes on impact dealing x% weapon damage & releases 3 enemy-seeking missiles after impact instead of the normal 3 smaller bombs.
If I re-spec this skill & choose the Rapid Fire skill instead, who could say what will happen to the skill after I socket it with the Indigo Rune.
Will I get the same cool skill (like uzi-fire) they've shown in the B-Roll video (time stamped at 2:38, 2:47 & 2:53 - firing short bursts of blueish projectiles)
or from the leaked skills video where the male Demon Hunter made use of the Shadow Power skill getting the Tyrael-like-purple-angel-wings then using the Rapid Fire skill (firing short bursts of redish projectiles).
We don't know, right?! The current Indigo Rune I have might have a different effect from the effect that I would have wanted. Therefore, for replayability, I would have to go look for the particular color of rune that would have the effect I wanted for the new skill I choose to re-spec.
Also, for cool weapons & gear, you would need to play Inferno for that, and like Jay Wilson said, "Inferno would be so difficult that you would have to run thru Hell a couple of times & improve your gear first before you can survive the long run."
Replayability, would mean, you'll have to play the game to farm gear for your PvP build & any other character class you choose to try out & play.
For people who like playing arena type PvP, like Quake, you would need to make a new character with sets of Active & Passive Skills that will be best suitable for a PvP build, which means playing the game again from the start. Not to mention, this will also depend on which of the five classes you would like to make for PvP play? How many? Just the 1? 2? 3?...
My option of replayability would be to first play the Demon Hunter through Hell & aim to survive in Inferno.
Then I will make a Demon Hunter build which I will aim to use for PvP play only. I don't know if I need to play this guy through Nightmare or even Hell, since his purely for PvP. I will use the current weapon & gear I have on my PvE Demon Hunter build for this guy.
Then I will make a HC Demon Hunter which will also share the same weapon & gear of my first Demon Hunter, which I will try to play through Hell & enter Inferno. Imagine the jubilation I would feel from accomplishing such a feat of getting a HC character to Inferno. I quite expect that it wont be an easy task, but having the same skills as the first one, I think the months of grueling, long hours of sleepless night of playing my first Demon Hunter would give me the experience to accomplish this task.
Then I will make a Monk & a Witch Doctor, which I plan to play both through Hell as well.
In my estimation, it would take me 3-4 months to play my first Demon Hunter through Hell, playing the well equipped PvP build at the same time as well.
My HC Demon Hunter will take a long time to play through Hell as well, seeing I don't want it to die anytime ever.
My Monk & Witch Doctor might take 2-3 months each to play through Hell. You might think why the time line is shorter? Well since I can farm awesome gear for them using my first Demon Hunter, I don't think I would need to concentrate on the story anymore. It will be more on rushing the game just to get them through Hell.
Now that's my plan & time-line estimates, but those are just assumptions since I've never seen how the real game plays & feels, my time-line might still change.
Not to mention, if I have to work longer hours, then my play time would suffer a lot. Meaning, my time-line would extend longer than I have presumed.
So, for people worrying about replayability, it's really a dumb thing to worry about since you don't know how the game is.
With this time-line I've set, I think I'm good for a more than a year or so. By that time, Blizzard will surely have put out something new for us through patches & stuff.
But I'm not a worry-wart to bother myself to venture further than that since no one can predict what will happen in the future. For now, my main goal is to get my hands on the game, on the day of its release... and enjoy playing it for the first time.
Now, if you're a douche & you plan to only play 1 character all through Hell, hell even through Inferno, then you don't want to create another new character after that and/or start playing any other character class because you think you've seen & done it all with your first and only character, then that's your problem.
If you're worried about your $50 going to waste buying the game, then don't buy it. It will make Blizzard happier to have someone who will enjoy the game purchase it instead of whiners like you.
I'm sure you'll die from envy when you're friends & buddies tell you how awesome the game that you don't want to play is because of your pre-conceptualized notions of replayability & longevity.
As others have mentioned, hardcore is the way to go once you've farmed inferno.
I think the idea with taking your character from lower to higher difficulties has always been such an awesome and unique thing, it's not like normal games: Ah damnit I've finished the game. It's more like: Alright round 2 BRING IT ON!!
I really hope I am wrong, but from the information we have right now, I think the replayability will be less due to having no reason to replay classes.
Onde you have all chars at lvl 60, all you can do is get better loot and wait for the expansion. In D2 you always could do a new character to try another build. While allowing free respec saves you time to do another build, saves you time you would spend playing, so you play the game less.
I think crafting and item content are going to be so vast combined, that there will be NO reason to play new chars. Simply make one of each class and craft and trade until your fingers bleed!
Judging by the vanilla version, I'd say Diablo 3 will be worse off.
However, you cannot ignore the fact that Blizzard has always been committed to improving their games. When you consider they'll be making money from the AH, they will be very motivated to improve replayability and longevity.
In my opinion, you're all dead wrong.
Having all the skills and just changing it (sort of re-spec'ing) doesn't mean you can use the same rune stones you already socketed for that particular build skills you picked to go with, especially if you are in Nightmare or Hell difficulty levels.
Level 1 & 2 skill Runes will be abundant in Normal difficulty level, but the level 3 & 4 Runes would be less abundant, while level 5 & 6 Runes will be scarce.
Let's say you re-spec'ed your level 60 character, it doesn't mean that the Runes you currently have will have the desired effect that you like for the new skills you choose.
Say I have chosen Indigo Rune for the Cluster Arrow skill of the Demon Hunter, wherein the Demon Hunter fires an arrow with a cluster of bombs, which explodes on impact dealing x% weapon damage & releases 3 enemy-seeking missiles after impact instead of the normal 3 smaller bombs.
If I re-spec this skill & choose the Rapid Fire skill instead, who could say what will happen to the skill after I socket it with the Indigo Rune.
Will I get the same cool skill (like uzi-fire) they've shown in the B-Roll video (time stamped at 2:38, 2:47 & 2:53 - firing short bursts of blueish projectiles)
or from the leaked skills video where the male Demon Hunter made use of the Shadow Power skill getting the Tyrael-like-purple-angel-wings then using the Rapid Fire skill (firing short bursts of redish projectiles).
We don't know, right?! The current Indigo Rune I have might have a different effect from the effect that I would have wanted. Therefore, for replayability, I would have to go look for the particular color of rune that would have the effect I wanted for the new skill I choose to re-spec.
Also, for cool weapons & gear, you would need to play Inferno for that, and like Jay Wilson said, "Inferno would be so difficult that you would have to run thru Hell a couple of times & improve your gear first before you can survive the long run."
Replayability, would mean, you'll have to play the game to farm gear for your PvP build & any other character class you choose to try out & play.
For people who like playing arena type PvP, like Quake, you would need to make a new character with sets of Active & Passive Skills that will be best suitable for a PvP build, which means playing the game again from the start. Not to mention, this will also depend on which of the five classes you would like to make for PvP play? How many? Just the 1? 2? 3?...
My option of replayability would be to first play the Demon Hunter through Hell & aim to survive in Inferno.
Then I will make a Demon Hunter build which I will aim to use for PvP play only. I don't know if I need to play this guy through Nightmare or even Hell, since his purely for PvP. I will use the current weapon & gear I have on my PvE Demon Hunter build for this guy.
Then I will make a HC Demon Hunter which will also share the same weapon & gear of my first Demon Hunter, which I will try to play through Hell & enter Inferno. Imagine the jubilation I would feel from accomplishing such a feat of getting a HC character to Inferno. I quite expect that it wont be an easy task, but having the same skills as the first one, I think the months of grueling, long hours of sleepless night of playing my first Demon Hunter would give me the experience to accomplish this task.
Then I will make a Monk & a Witch Doctor, which I plan to play both through Hell as well.
In my estimation, it would take me 3-4 months to play my first Demon Hunter through Hell, playing the well equipped PvP build at the same time as well.
My HC Demon Hunter will take a long time to play through Hell as well, seeing I don't want it to die anytime ever.
My Monk & Witch Doctor might take 2-3 months each to play through Hell. You might think why the time line is shorter? Well since I can farm awesome gear for them using my first Demon Hunter, I don't think I would need to concentrate on the story anymore. It will be more on rushing the game just to get them through Hell.
Now that's my plan & time-line estimates, but those are just assumptions since I've never seen how the real game plays & feels, my time line might still change.
Not to mention, if I have to work longer hours, then my play time would suffer.
So, for people worrying about replayability, it's really a dumb thing to worry about since you don't know how the game is.
With this time-line I've set, I think I'm good for a more than a year. By that time, Blizzard will surely have put out something new for us through patches & stuff. But I'm not a worry-wart to bother myself to venture further than that since no one can predict what will happen in the future. For now, my main goal is to get my hands on the game, on the day of its release... and enjoy playing it for the first time.
Now, if you're a douche & you plan to only play 1 character all through Hell, hell even through Inferno, then you don't want to create another new character &/or play any other character class because you think you've seen & done it all with your first and only character, then that's your problem.
If you're worried about your $50 going to waste buying the game, then don't buy it. It will make Blizzard happier to have someone who will enjoy the game purchase it instead of whiners like you. I'm sure you'll die from envy when you're friends & buddies tell you how awesome the game that you don't want to play is because of pre-conceptualized issues of replayability & longevity.
.
Wall of Text crits you for 23,576,408..........You die...
Hope you weren't hardcore!
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First, what are the features that made Diablo 2 as re-playable as it is, apart from the fact that is was fun.
1) Loot/Hard to obtain items
2) Different characters for different builds
3) Having so many accounts that you forget your password and have to re-level (I had this problem at least 8 times over the duration of Diablo lol, don't judge!)
4) Ladder resets
5) Hard to obtain max level that took awhile to achieve
6) Co-op with friends
7) Custom challenges (iron-mans, pvp tournaments, ect..)
8) Making your builds and character powerful (especially with a non-cookie cutter build )
9) Making a "perfect" character (i.e. stats, gear, skills) all 100% min-maxed.
I am sure the more I think the list could go on and on, but lets stop it here.
Now, since D3 has removed several things from this list, and improved some of them and added a few of its own, lets make a list for D3.
I would just like to point out that these are all speculation based on the info that has been presented to us.
1) LOOT!
2) A plethora of different builds
3) Co-op with friends (albeit less)
4) Custom challenges (I am sure they will be around)
5) Making your builds and characters powerful (especially with a non-cookie cutter build)
6) Inferno and other end-game mechanics that may be included
7) ACHIEVEMENTS!
#3 and will probably add longevity vs D2 because you will have to make more characters to pay with all your friends.
When we look at the D3 list vs the D2 list, there are a few noticeable differences.
The first thing is that D3 will have more character builds, which means there will probably be a larger amount of viable builds, and add a lot more fun and customization on your beloved characters.
However, the most noticeable difference is that D3 will have almost no reason to make multiple types of one class, other than to start fresh with some friends. For example, if I have a WD and I am using him to PvM and the build I am using sucks at killing bosses but is awesome at killing packs of mobs, this is when I would start thinking about a WD build that maybe kills mobs less quickly but kills bosses a little faster. However, in D3, I can just swap a few skills for the boss fight and then swap back. The same can be said for PvP, I can just swap in the PvP skills I like and be on my way. This is good in the fact that your character will feel awesome, and powerful and you would have the frustration of leveling a new character. Although, it does significantly decrease the amount of time people spend re-playing the game.
Also, max level will be achievable for regular humans (no offense ) and you will be able to buy a max level character, so there is less to strive for once you "beat the game". What happens when I beat inferno and have some decent gear? What else is left to do? (These are rhetorical questions to stir your thoughts, I have my own answers for them, but everyone's answers will be different).
Anyways, I am getting hungry . I know there could be more things on each of the lists, but it would take forever to think of them all.
I just wanted to post this to get a discussion going on the re-playability features in D3, what do you think they could improve on, what could they add, what could they get rid of, to improve re-playability?
I also added a poll, just for a little bit more fun.
Onde you have all chars at lvl 60, all you can do is get better loot and wait for the expansion. In D2 you always could do a new character to try another build. While allowing free respec saves you time to do another build, saves you time you would spend playing, so you play the game less.
my vote is more. much more.
http://www.soundcloud.com/salerno
lets not forget about the vast crafting and trading system!
http://www.soundcloud.com/salerno
Yes! (Just kidding)
Given how much time left I have after family, work, etc., I will be amazingly happy with the value of the game if it's fun to level each class to 60 and play inferno for awhile. The game will be what, $60? If I get 20 hours of play leveling each class to 60 and then get another 100 hours of max level play, that's 200 hours. That's insanely much gameplay for the money. I realize some people want more than that, for them there's always gear farming, opening new accounts, trying new combinations, looking for BiS items, etc. I think that after this game is released the majority of people will think it's everything it needs to be, but there will always be people who want more, even beyond the two expansion packs.
Blizzard can't please everyone, so they please the majority of people who will buy their games. That's just good business sense, diehard fans can say that they should add more endgame content or what have you, but from a business perspective, that's not really that critical. If you buy the game and enjoy it and will buy their next game, that's pretty darn good.
In any game, the best replayability mechanism for me is "quality". I can't really count how many times i've finished DI, a game with only 3 classes and relatively low character customisation (about 2 builds for each character).
D3 will surely be a much better game. They are focusing on gameplay quality above anything else. Look at the monster's archetypes, the way each spell is totally unique and just imagine how awesome will be the boss fights.
Also i few numbers may clear up the mind of those who think they will not have enough content in D3.
* Force said the D3 beta takes 2~4 hours to finish.
* The beta covers something between 1/3 and 2/3 of Act 1.
* In the worst case act 1 will take 3 hours to finish. In the best it takes 12 hours. 5 hours sounds like a good guess.
* Assuming all acts, except the last one, have the same leght, i think one playthrough will take 18 hours (a excelent number for a ARPG).
* Theres 4 difficulties (and assuming you will take the same amount of time, wich is pessimistic hypothesis since hell/inferno should be really damn hard). So to "finish" the game with a single character you will take 72 hours.
* The game have 5 characters.
* You will play 360 hours of D3 without counting: DLC content, PvP, item grinding, achievements, theorycrafting outside game, hardcore. 360 hours of intense fun for 50~60U$ ? Hell yeah.
You still need to get all the gear and runes (and gems?) for whatever build you switch to. Sure, some of the gear for your first build will be useful or at least a good placeholder for build 2, but they won't be optimal. The vast majority of d2 was finding and looting optimal equipment.
http://www.soundcloud.com/salerno
devilsadvocate but I am having a hard time coming up with a coutner argument.What happens after the game has been out for awhile, the gear is started to get infalted, money is getting inflated, now what? Everyone has everything, except for the VERY uncommon perfect rares, perfect legendries. D2's solution was the ladder reset. What will D3 do to help this balance?
The crafting system (breaking down items) will take some of them out of the market, but will it take enough out?
gear wont get as inflated as people are thinking. D2 gear was so inflated because of duping and whatnot, which D3 will have a team constantly countering that. Also they have stated that they will keep patching in gear, weither it be crafting gear or drops. so lets say you get all the top gear, but they patch in a chest that has 10 more str...
Ding Ding Ding!!
We have a Winner!!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4137782.stm
Having all the skills and just changing it (sort of re-spec'ing) doesn't mean you can use the same rune stones you already socketed for that particular build skills you picked to go with, especially if you are in Nightmare or Hell difficulty levels.
Level 1 & 2 skill Runes will be abundant in Normal difficulty level, but the level 3 & 4 Runes would be less abundant, while level 5 & 6 Runes will be scarce.
Let's say you re-spec'ed your level 60 character, it doesn't mean that the Runes you currently have will have the desired effect that you like for the new skills you choose.
Say I have chosen Indigo Rune for the Cluster Arrow skill of the Demon Hunter, wherein the Demon Hunter fires an arrow with a cluster of bombs, which explodes on impact dealing x% weapon damage & releases 3 enemy-seeking missiles after impact instead of the normal 3 smaller bombs.
If I re-spec this skill & choose the Rapid Fire skill instead, who could say what will happen to the skill after I socket it with the Indigo Rune.
Will I get the same cool skill (like uzi-fire) they've shown in the B-Roll video (time stamped at 2:38, 2:47 & 2:53 - firing short bursts of blueish projectiles)
or from the leaked skills video where the male Demon Hunter made use of the Shadow Power skill getting the Tyrael-like-purple-angel-wings then using the Rapid Fire skill (firing short bursts of redish projectiles).
We don't know, right?! The current Indigo Rune I have might have a different effect from the effect that I would have wanted. Therefore, for replayability, I would have to go look for the particular color of rune that would have the effect I wanted for the new skill I choose to re-spec.
Also, for cool weapons & gear, you would need to play Inferno for that, and like Jay Wilson said, "Inferno would be so difficult that you would have to run thru Hell a couple of times & improve your gear first before you can survive the long run."
Replayability, would mean, you'll have to play the game to farm gear for your PvP build & any other character class you choose to try out & play.
For people who like playing arena type PvP, like Quake, you would need to make a new character with sets of Active & Passive Skills that will be best suitable for a PvP build, which means playing the game again from the start. Not to mention, this will also depend on which of the five classes you would like to make for PvP play? How many? Just the 1? 2? 3?...
My option of replayability would be to first play the Demon Hunter through Hell & aim to survive in Inferno.
Then I will make a Demon Hunter build which I will aim to use for PvP play only. I don't know if I need to play this guy through Nightmare or even Hell, since his purely for PvP. I will use the current weapon & gear I have on my PvE Demon Hunter build for this guy.
Then I will make a HC Demon Hunter which will also share the same weapon & gear of my first Demon Hunter, which I will try to play through Hell & enter Inferno. Imagine the jubilation I would feel from accomplishing such a feat of getting a HC character to Inferno. I quite expect that it wont be an easy task, but having the same skills as the first one, I think the months of grueling, long hours of sleepless night of playing my first Demon Hunter would give me the experience to accomplish this task.
Then I will make a Monk & a Witch Doctor, which I plan to play both through Hell as well.
In my estimation, it would take me 3-4 months to play my first Demon Hunter through Hell, playing the well equipped PvP build at the same time as well.
My HC Demon Hunter will take a long time to play through Hell as well, seeing I don't want it to die anytime ever.
My Monk & Witch Doctor might take 2-3 months each to play through Hell. You might think why the time line is shorter? Well since I can farm awesome gear for them using my first Demon Hunter, I don't think I would need to concentrate on the story anymore. It will be more on rushing the game just to get them through Hell.
Now that's my plan & time-line estimates, but those are just assumptions since I've never seen how the real game plays & feels, my time-line might still change.
Not to mention, if I have to work longer hours, then my play time would suffer a lot. Meaning, my time-line would extend longer than I have presumed.
So, for people worrying about replayability, it's really a dumb thing to worry about since you don't know how the game is.
With this time-line I've set, I think I'm good for a more than a year or so. By that time, Blizzard will surely have put out something new for us through patches & stuff.
But I'm not a worry-wart to bother myself to venture further than that since no one can predict what will happen in the future. For now, my main goal is to get my hands on the game, on the day of its release... and enjoy playing it for the first time.
Now, if you're a douche & you plan to only play 1 character all through Hell, hell even through Inferno, then you don't want to create another new character after that and/or start playing any other character class because you think you've seen & done it all with your first and only character, then that's your problem.
If you're worried about your $50 going to waste buying the game, then don't buy it. It will make Blizzard happier to have someone who will enjoy the game purchase it instead of whiners like you.
I'm sure you'll die from envy when you're friends & buddies tell you how awesome the game that you don't want to play is because of your pre-conceptualized notions of replayability & longevity.
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My PvP build would be different from these 13.
Check out the leaked Demon Hunter skill list here from Blizzard China: http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://tiny.cc/10p16
Diablo III is $50; MSI GT683DXR-423US Gaming Laptop is $1,599; Playing Diablo III w/ my wife & 2 brothers is PRICELESS
I think the idea with taking your character from lower to higher difficulties has always been such an awesome and unique thing, it's not like normal games: Ah damnit I've finished the game. It's more like: Alright round 2 BRING IT ON!!
Wall of Text crits you for 23,576,408..........You die...
Hope you weren't hardcore!