I do not agree with the sentiment that you should be allowed to choose which runes to unlock when it's available. Let's be honest, everyone would first select the rune that they currently want for end-game action, and not care about anything else when the other options open up. If I had my choice on runes, you bet your sweet ass that they would be the runes in my sig.
It's not the rune system that is the problem. It's the people wanting their end-game rune choices at low levels to plow through content that is the problem and anything else is unacceptable.
What are you talking about? Most of the runes don't make the skill over powered or better, they just make them function differently.
The old system had ranks for a reason. Just because you'd use the build you actually wanted in early game, doesn't mean you'd plow through the content. The lower ranks wouldn't drasticly overpower the game like the new system does (which is why they gated most of them to end game)
What are you talking about? Most of the runes don't make the skill over powered or better, they just make them function differently.
The old system had ranks for a reason. Just because you'd use the build you actually wanted in early game, doesn't mean you'd plow through the content. The lower ranks wouldn't drasticly overpower the game like the new system does (which is why they gated most of them to end game)
Stop being closed-minded and biased. Let's take monk skills for an example. Deadly reach crimson rune. I would increase my dmg output for 30 seconds each time I finish the combo. As soon as I got an option for deadly reach, you bet I'd take that rune and never look at anything else for that skill because it's a huge permanent dps buff.
Breath of Heaven - I'd increase the amount healed with the rune and never look at anything else.
The list goes on and on for every skill and class. You are in denial if you think there aren't standout choices that make everything else less worthwhile. You are argue all day if you want, but the fact is that people want their primary rune choice with their first choice, so that makes the new rune system "garbage."
I think sometimes that they do not know exactly what they wanna acomplish in d3.Theyr changing theyr objectives every month and iam afraid the game is losing on this.We shouldnt be thinking only on runes but on whole d3 gamesystem.And runes?they surely be the way they were cause it was fine.It was giving us more loot to find and more fun from the game.
I know what you mean. It appears they are catering to the A.D.D crowd who don't want to invest time at end game to collect items. Makes you wonder why these kind of people play a game that's completely build around this idea.
I think sometimes that they do not know exactly what they wanna acomplish in d3.Theyr changing theyr objectives every month and iam afraid the game is losing on this.We shouldnt be thinking only on runes but on whole d3 gamesystem.And runes?they surely be the way they were cause it was fine.It was giving us more loot to find and more fun from the game.
I know what you mean. It appears they are catering to the A.D.D crowd who don't want to invest time at end game to collect items. Makes you wonder why these kind of people play a game that's completely build around this idea.
Don't fall into the ignorant kid clique that is growing on these forums. Your posts usually have a lot of merit.
What are you talking about? Most of the runes don't make the skill over powered or better, they just make them function differently.
The old system had ranks for a reason. Just because you'd use the build you actually wanted in early game, doesn't mean you'd plow through the content. The lower ranks wouldn't drasticly overpower the game like the new system does (which is why they gated most of them to end game)
Stop being closed-minded and biased. Let's take monk skills for an example. Deadly reach crimson rune. I would increase my dmg output for 30 seconds each time I finish the combo. As soon as I got an option for deadly reach, you bet I'd take that rune and never look at anything else for that skill because it's a huge permanent dps buff.
Breath of Heaven - I'd increase the amount healed with the rune and never look at anything else.
The list goes on and on for every skill and class. You are in denial if you think there aren't standout choices that make everything else less worthwhile. You are argue all day if you want, but the fact is that people want their primary rune choice with their first choice, so that makes the new rune system "garbage."
Are you talking about with the CURRENT system patch 13 rune values? Because blizzard has already said the new runes are level 5 in power. Don't confuse the two.
The ranks would have allowed a gradual progression in power on the skills you wanted to use so they WOULDN"T dominate the game.
Also, blizzard already said that runed skills will be better then base skills and they are ok with that.
Just to give you an example.... Grasp of the Dead runed to Eels of the Dead... BIG dps buff on this skill and i get that a what? level 6? It's a level 5 rune (which wouldn't have dropped till Hell) that i get in act 1 Normal within 45 mins of playing the game. I wont' take another rune according to you because it's flat out better cuse of the huge dps buff. Same goes for Magic missle and Arcane Orb on the wizard. Arcane Orb runed in beta has a ridiculous AOE size. It DOUBLES the effective range of the skill. Again, crazy overpowered for act 1 normal.
You see what I'm getting at? The rank 1 version wouldn't have DOUBLED Arcane Orb's radius. You'd only get that when you can start finding level 5 runes which would have been some time in Hell difficulty.
I think sometimes that they do not know exactly what they wanna acomplish in d3.Theyr changing theyr objectives every month and iam afraid the game is losing on this.We shouldnt be thinking only on runes but on whole d3 gamesystem.And runes?they surely be the way they were cause it was fine.It was giving us more loot to find and more fun from the game.
I know what you mean. It appears they are catering to the A.D.D crowd who don't want to invest time at end game to collect items. Makes you wonder why these kind of people play a game that's completely build around this idea.
Don't fall into the ignorant kid clique that is growing on these forums. Your posts usually have a lot of merit.
Thanks for the concern.
The main argument i see from people in favor of this system is " now i don't have to spend countless time farming runes!!". What does that tell you exactly? They are pleased it's just given to them. Well what are they going to think when they are stuck farming gear for days, months, years?
Are you talking about with the CURRENT system patch 13 rune values? Because blizzard has already said the new runes are level 5 in power. Don't confuse the two.
The ranks would have allowed a gradual progression in power on the skills you wanted to use so they WOULDN"T dominate the game.
Also, blizzard already said that runed skills will be better then base skills and they are ok with that.
Just to give you an example.... Grasp of the Dead runed to Eels of the Dead... BIG dps buff on this skill and i get that a what? level 6? It's a level 5 rune (which wouldn't have dropped till Hell) that i get in act 1 Normal within 45 mins of playing the game. I wont' take another rune according to you because it's flat out better cuse of the huge dps buff. Same goes for Magic missle and Arcane Orb on the wizard. Arcane Orb runed in beta has a ridiculous AOE size. It DOUBLES the effective range of the skill. Again, crazy overpowered for act 1 normal.
You see what I'm getting at? The rank 1 version wouldn't have DOUBLED Arcane Orb's radius. You'd only get that when you can start finding level 5 runes which would have been some time in Hell difficulty.
I understand what you are saying, but you and I are talking 2 different things. Regardless of rune rank, there are certain colors that dominate no matter what. Crimson deadly reach is the only way to go if you use that skill, whether it's rank 1, 5, 7, 19890384172. I agree with you that the power of the runes being rank 5 is a little over the top and makes things more powerful than they should.
Regardless, my rune color choices would stay the same if I had the ability to determine that as soon as a rune skill was unlocked for my build. That's the point I was trying to make. I'm not arguing that rank 5 at low levels is overpowered.
Edited to respond to your last post: I was never against farming runes in Hell or Inferno like some others are. I'm ok with the new system, but either way it doesn't matter to me.
Are you talking about with the CURRENT system patch 13 rune values? Because blizzard has already said the new runes are level 5 in power. Don't confuse the two.
The ranks would have allowed a gradual progression in power on the skills you wanted to use so they WOULDN"T dominate the game.
Also, blizzard already said that runed skills will be better then base skills and they are ok with that.
Just to give you an example.... Grasp of the Dead runed to Eels of the Dead... BIG dps buff on this skill and i get that a what? level 6? It's a level 5 rune (which wouldn't have dropped till Hell) that i get in act 1 Normal within 45 mins of playing the game. I wont' take another rune according to you because it's flat out better cuse of the huge dps buff. Same goes for Magic missle and Arcane Orb on the wizard. Arcane Orb runed in beta has a ridiculous AOE size. It DOUBLES the effective range of the skill. Again, crazy overpowered for act 1 normal.
You see what I'm getting at? The rank 1 version wouldn't have DOUBLED Arcane Orb's radius. You'd only get that when you can start finding level 5 runes which would have been some time in Hell difficulty.
I understand what you are saying, but you and I are talking 2 different things. Regardless of rune rank, there are certain colors that dominate no matter what. Crimson deadly reach is the only way to go if you use that skill, whether it's rank 1, 5, 7, 19890384172. I agree with you that the power of the runes being rank 5 is a little over the top and makes things more powerful than they should.
Regardless, my rune color choices would stay the same if I had the ability to determine that as soon as a rune skill was unlocked for my build. That's the point I was trying to make. I'm not arguing that rank 5 at low levels is overpowered.
So you think forcing you to use runes you don't actually want to use until whatever level the one you want unlocks, is a better system?
The flaw you are talking about is with the rune ability itself. If it's so drastically better then all the rest, then it needs to either get nerfed or changed. Don't overhaul the whole system to gate rune progression simply to force players to use altenatives they don't want just because a few runes are the optimal choice.
And, in the current system, if you are right, that just means a majority of Monks at 60 will sport that particular rune combo, killing variety and customization.
So you think forcing you to use runes you don't actually want to use until whatever level the one you want unlocks, is a better system?
The flaw you are talking about is with the rune ability itself. If it's so drastically better then all the rest, then it needs to either get nerfed or changed. Don't overhaul the whole system to gate rune progression simply to force players to use altenatives they don't want just because a few runes are the optimal choice.
And, in the current system, if you are right, that just means a majority of Monks at 60 will sport that particular rune combo, killing variety and customization.
In a way, yes it's better to make you use (or at least try out) all the rune combos before you hit 60 than to allow you to pick the best one right away and completely ignore all the other choices with our current rune skill system. I'm not here to spew that every system in the game is absolutely perfect, but I can live with Blizzard's decision. At lvl 60, I'm worried about the gear, the tradeskill recipes, and the challenges that will be presented by Inferno. It won't be the end of the world for me that the highest level runes will not be a part of it.
As I have been reading around about what everyone thinks about the new rune/skill changes I have seen many problems found with it and also a ton of ideas on how to fix the issues. The problem is everyone seems to be seeing only a few of the issues at a time. I of course only see some of them but I hope we can get a good list together first, and only then work to fix them without creating many more.
Current Issues:
- Gaining what were lvl 5 runes so early makes game play easier and we loose the sense of gaining real significance or having a runed skill verses a normal skill. I believe before you would suffer through with almost all your normal skills until runes where all of a sudden your skills take on so much more life and customization. By not having levels of runes (1-7) we lose both early and late game
- By gaining runed abilities by level it will make it unfair to casual gamers that do not plan on reaching 60, and also confusing to them because it seems logical that runed abilities would get stronger the longer you have to wait to get them (higher level). This is also quite annoying for the big time gamers because they are not able to use a certain runed skill until a certain level, where other runed skills are available. Big part of the reason I believe they did this is so that people are rewarded from leveling all the way up to 60. (Same reason you get basic skills before late game).
- Not having runes be items. In a game of item collecting the types of items to collect seem slim. Runes filled that gap very well I believe. If it was indeed an inventory issue (I do see it being one as well as a trading issue if implemented wrong).
- There are many more I'm sure but I am a bad poster and hope a good one can take this up and gather all the good info so a proper solution can be found.
____________
Some better solutions/ideas I have seen:
- Have Runes back in the game but not as a trade-able or normal item. It would have it's own inventory by the skill selection UI. Level 1 runes (6 of each type) would be unlocked for all skills sometime after you have gotten all skills. (get all skill ~25 possibly and at ~30 you get your runes unlocked). Eh bad at explaining. Runes would not be consumed but instead work something like what I have seen in League of Legends; where you have the runes to switch out and apply to what ever skills you have equipped... they are easily reusable and switchable. Now throughout the game you would level up these runes by them dropping off a creature. For example a level 2 crimson rune drops, picking it up would upgrade one of you 6 cromson runes to a level 2 one (if you had a level 1 to begin with). Does this make sense?
How realistic is it that we'll see another change to the current system? Maybe some minor adjustments and such, but I dunno about another major change..
I personaly think that they should have kept runewords in. IF anything this was the best part about diablo 2. There wasnt a problem with that system until people started duping them, cause they were currency for the in game market. No one likes this new idea, i for one dont know yet.
Here is my idea, if the system now has you unlock runes at certain lvls, you should have 1 of a kind specific class hidden skill that unlocks with a specific crafted legendary gear comboed with a 1 time only rune option in that legendary item, only obtainable by breaking down certain rare gear attributes. If you guess wrong on the rune combo with the legendary item and class, then you loose 1 attribute on that armor of your choosing. That way you have to risk alot to gain everything, and it will keep rare junk from staying on the market as well, and will set you apart from others.
Runes should be graphically located on a trinket or necklace around your character. When we are working with /swapping runes we should see this trinket up close. Give it a cool, earthy aesthetic. When we attach runes into it's slots we have a satisfying sound of the rune stamping into the trinket and it lights up, possibly shaking the trinket around a bit.
We need something at least more creepy and demonic looking than what they have going now. Perhaps a demon skull in which to place the runes?
Well trying to find a solution between all the desired issues with the new one and the old one gave me two things to help alleviate the concerns of most. First lets give at leas two choices as to which rune you first start out with. You can always have two choices each time you are awarded a new rune option. I don't think that all runes should be available at once since I think Blizz felt that was just too much, and it also lets people have more control of there experimentation.
Secondly I think the system should still have rune drops, something that you can place into a rune and then gets locked in once you place it. These rune stones would add some + properties to the specific rune it was fixed to. The rune stone can never be taken out but it allows for people to still collect something to add to their spells and lets you slowly focus on making all your rune slots masterly upgraded.
I personaly think that they should have kept runewords in. IF anything this was the best part about diablo 2. There wasnt a problem with that system until people started duping them, cause they were currency for the in game market. No one likes this new idea, i for one dont know yet.
Here is my idea, if the system now has you unlock runes at certain lvls, you should have 1 of a kind specific class hidden skill that unlocks with a specific crafted legendary gear comboed with a 1 time only rune option in that legendary item, only obtainable by breaking down certain rare gear attributes. If you guess wrong on the rune combo with the legendary item and class, then you loose 1 attribute on that armor of your choosing. That way you have to risk alot to gain everything, and it will keep rare junk from staying on the market as well, and will set you apart from others.
Runewords weren't in the original Diablo 2 either, so I wouldn't rule out some kind of addition like that in the future. A lot of people loved them, a lot of people hated them, but they did add something interesting. But that is more of an item modification so it's completely different from the skill runes.
I wouldn't be surprised by minor changes to the rune system we see now, but I highly doubt they revert to runestones. Fixing the interface is a no-brainer, however...
I'd prefer some sort of option to choose the runes I want as I level. It would be unfortunate if in their current static list of unlock orders that my desired build required me to be high level (40-60) before I'd have all the rune effects I would need. In the previous incarnation it was likely that I would have a full collection of runes (albeit level "1") by level 30.
Just have to restrict the types of runes you can get by lvl. Like between lvl 5-10 certain runes start dropping, then 15-20 the next set drops then lvl 25-30 the last set drops so maybe 2 different runes each time therefore 6 different runes by lvl 30 and this is max but will all be lvl 1's.
To get these to lvl 2 have a rune scroll (lvl 1-5) drop randomly which increases a rune by one lvl and this is restriced so that each rune can only be lvl'ed once after its been used and the next rune scroll lvl will drop at lvl 35, 40, 45, 50, 55. You will then have a chance to max out a rune at lvl 55. So you will still need Rune scroll lvl 2 to drop at lvl 35 to increase a lvl 1 rune to lvl 2.
I would also restrict the number of runes active at one time by lvl also. from 5-10 only 1 rune is allowed to be active, then at lvl 30 2 runes can be active, then lvl 50. That way the charcter won't be able to use all 6 runes unless they were in Hell mode or in expansion, but still give the user a choice and decent boost without being too OP.
I don't think this way u would over pack the inventory as once you used a rune u wont need it again for that character. Also have a Rune bag in the shared stash so all ur characters can use and runes can be sold for gold.
1. Easiest idea to make current rune system better, without delaying the game:
System works as it is, but Blizz introduces rare upgrade Tome drops in Inferno, i.e. Crimson Tome Rank 6/7 (adds Crimson effect to any skill), etc. or if Blizz wants more variety - Magic Missile Rank 6/7, etc.
Benefits - no release delay, high-end part is saved, more item hunting for hardcore players, more items for AH, etc.
2. The best rune system:
7 ranks and 5 colors (works for any skill), thats 35 runes total. Low ranks drops like candies, last ranks very rare.
Blizz returns removed stash space, or at least 40 slots for runes, or Runes bag in UI, its fine either way. Runes stack.
Done. This system makes happy everyone from ultra casual to super hardcore.
I think that the issues voiced by Blizzard regarding the runestone system are very real. If make the runes specific so you know exactly what they do, you end up with a huge amount of items. If you make them generic to limit the runes to 35 total, you have to read a novel of tooltips to figure out which skill you want to put it in.
Skill runes are a great idea, but a lot of people just aren't happy that the order is defined for them. Letting the player choose a rune seems like a viable solution, but I think it has its drawbacks too. Wouldn't picking everything you want first just make future upgrades (level 30+) fairly pointless.? I don't know, maybe it's just me.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
What are you talking about? Most of the runes don't make the skill over powered or better, they just make them function differently.
The old system had ranks for a reason. Just because you'd use the build you actually wanted in early game, doesn't mean you'd plow through the content. The lower ranks wouldn't drasticly overpower the game like the new system does (which is why they gated most of them to end game)
Stop being closed-minded and biased. Let's take monk skills for an example. Deadly reach crimson rune. I would increase my dmg output for 30 seconds each time I finish the combo. As soon as I got an option for deadly reach, you bet I'd take that rune and never look at anything else for that skill because it's a huge permanent dps buff.
Breath of Heaven - I'd increase the amount healed with the rune and never look at anything else.
The list goes on and on for every skill and class. You are in denial if you think there aren't standout choices that make everything else less worthwhile. You are argue all day if you want, but the fact is that people want their primary rune choice with their first choice, so that makes the new rune system "garbage."
Battle.net Profile / Diablo Progress Profile
I know what you mean. It appears they are catering to the A.D.D crowd who don't want to invest time at end game to collect items. Makes you wonder why these kind of people play a game that's completely build around this idea.
Don't fall into the ignorant kid clique that is growing on these forums. Your posts usually have a lot of merit.
Battle.net Profile / Diablo Progress Profile
Are you talking about with the CURRENT system patch 13 rune values? Because blizzard has already said the new runes are level 5 in power. Don't confuse the two.
The ranks would have allowed a gradual progression in power on the skills you wanted to use so they WOULDN"T dominate the game.
Also, blizzard already said that runed skills will be better then base skills and they are ok with that.
Just to give you an example.... Grasp of the Dead runed to Eels of the Dead... BIG dps buff on this skill and i get that a what? level 6? It's a level 5 rune (which wouldn't have dropped till Hell) that i get in act 1 Normal within 45 mins of playing the game. I wont' take another rune according to you because it's flat out better cuse of the huge dps buff. Same goes for Magic missle and Arcane Orb on the wizard. Arcane Orb runed in beta has a ridiculous AOE size. It DOUBLES the effective range of the skill. Again, crazy overpowered for act 1 normal.
You see what I'm getting at? The rank 1 version wouldn't have DOUBLED Arcane Orb's radius. You'd only get that when you can start finding level 5 runes which would have been some time in Hell difficulty.
Thanks for the concern.
The main argument i see from people in favor of this system is " now i don't have to spend countless time farming runes!!". What does that tell you exactly? They are pleased it's just given to them. Well what are they going to think when they are stuck farming gear for days, months, years?
I understand what you are saying, but you and I are talking 2 different things. Regardless of rune rank, there are certain colors that dominate no matter what. Crimson deadly reach is the only way to go if you use that skill, whether it's rank 1, 5, 7, 19890384172. I agree with you that the power of the runes being rank 5 is a little over the top and makes things more powerful than they should.
Regardless, my rune color choices would stay the same if I had the ability to determine that as soon as a rune skill was unlocked for my build. That's the point I was trying to make. I'm not arguing that rank 5 at low levels is overpowered.
Edited to respond to your last post: I was never against farming runes in Hell or Inferno like some others are. I'm ok with the new system, but either way it doesn't matter to me.
Battle.net Profile / Diablo Progress Profile
So you think forcing you to use runes you don't actually want to use until whatever level the one you want unlocks, is a better system?
The flaw you are talking about is with the rune ability itself. If it's so drastically better then all the rest, then it needs to either get nerfed or changed. Don't overhaul the whole system to gate rune progression simply to force players to use altenatives they don't want just because a few runes are the optimal choice.
And, in the current system, if you are right, that just means a majority of Monks at 60 will sport that particular rune combo, killing variety and customization.
In a way, yes it's better to make you use (or at least try out) all the rune combos before you hit 60 than to allow you to pick the best one right away and completely ignore all the other choices with our current rune skill system. I'm not here to spew that every system in the game is absolutely perfect, but I can live with Blizzard's decision. At lvl 60, I'm worried about the gear, the tradeskill recipes, and the challenges that will be presented by Inferno. It won't be the end of the world for me that the highest level runes will not be a part of it.
Battle.net Profile / Diablo Progress Profile
Current Issues:
- Gaining what were lvl 5 runes so early makes game play easier and we loose the sense of gaining real significance or having a runed skill verses a normal skill. I believe before you would suffer through with almost all your normal skills until runes where all of a sudden your skills take on so much more life and customization. By not having levels of runes (1-7) we lose both early and late game
- By gaining runed abilities by level it will make it unfair to casual gamers that do not plan on reaching 60, and also confusing to them because it seems logical that runed abilities would get stronger the longer you have to wait to get them (higher level). This is also quite annoying for the big time gamers because they are not able to use a certain runed skill until a certain level, where other runed skills are available. Big part of the reason I believe they did this is so that people are rewarded from leveling all the way up to 60. (Same reason you get basic skills before late game).
- Not having runes be items. In a game of item collecting the types of items to collect seem slim. Runes filled that gap very well I believe. If it was indeed an inventory issue (I do see it being one as well as a trading issue if implemented wrong).
- There are many more I'm sure but I am a bad poster and hope a good one can take this up and gather all the good info so a proper solution can be found.
____________
Some better solutions/ideas I have seen:
- Have Runes back in the game but not as a trade-able or normal item. It would have it's own inventory by the skill selection UI. Level 1 runes (6 of each type) would be unlocked for all skills sometime after you have gotten all skills. (get all skill ~25 possibly and at ~30 you get your runes unlocked). Eh bad at explaining. Runes would not be consumed but instead work something like what I have seen in League of Legends; where you have the runes to switch out and apply to what ever skills you have equipped... they are easily reusable and switchable. Now throughout the game you would level up these runes by them dropping off a creature. For example a level 2 crimson rune drops, picking it up would upgrade one of you 6 cromson runes to a level 2 one (if you had a level 1 to begin with). Does this make sense?
Here is my idea, if the system now has you unlock runes at certain lvls, you should have 1 of a kind specific class hidden skill that unlocks with a specific crafted legendary gear comboed with a 1 time only rune option in that legendary item, only obtainable by breaking down certain rare gear attributes. If you guess wrong on the rune combo with the legendary item and class, then you loose 1 attribute on that armor of your choosing. That way you have to risk alot to gain everything, and it will keep rare junk from staying on the market as well, and will set you apart from others.
We need something at least more creepy and demonic looking than what they have going now. Perhaps a demon skull in which to place the runes?
All they really need to do is redo the UI for it.
That thing is ugly.
Secondly I think the system should still have rune drops, something that you can place into a rune and then gets locked in once you place it. These rune stones would add some + properties to the specific rune it was fixed to. The rune stone can never be taken out but it allows for people to still collect something to add to their spells and lets you slowly focus on making all your rune slots masterly upgraded.
Runewords weren't in the original Diablo 2 either, so I wouldn't rule out some kind of addition like that in the future. A lot of people loved them, a lot of people hated them, but they did add something interesting. But that is more of an item modification so it's completely different from the skill runes.
I wouldn't be surprised by minor changes to the rune system we see now, but I highly doubt they revert to runestones. Fixing the interface is a no-brainer, however...
It takes away from finding them, which is part of why we played repeatedly.
To get these to lvl 2 have a rune scroll (lvl 1-5) drop randomly which increases a rune by one lvl and this is restriced so that each rune can only be lvl'ed once after its been used and the next rune scroll lvl will drop at lvl 35, 40, 45, 50, 55. You will then have a chance to max out a rune at lvl 55. So you will still need Rune scroll lvl 2 to drop at lvl 35 to increase a lvl 1 rune to lvl 2.
I would also restrict the number of runes active at one time by lvl also. from 5-10 only 1 rune is allowed to be active, then at lvl 30 2 runes can be active, then lvl 50. That way the charcter won't be able to use all 6 runes unless they were in Hell mode or in expansion, but still give the user a choice and decent boost without being too OP.
I don't think this way u would over pack the inventory as once you used a rune u wont need it again for that character. Also have a Rune bag in the shared stash so all ur characters can use and runes can be sold for gold.
I think that the issues voiced by Blizzard regarding the runestone system are very real. If make the runes specific so you know exactly what they do, you end up with a huge amount of items. If you make them generic to limit the runes to 35 total, you have to read a novel of tooltips to figure out which skill you want to put it in.
Skill runes are a great idea, but a lot of people just aren't happy that the order is defined for them. Letting the player choose a rune seems like a viable solution, but I think it has its drawbacks too. Wouldn't picking everything you want first just make future upgrades (level 30+) fairly pointless.? I don't know, maybe it's just me.