DiabloFans

I am a bit worried about how different the in-game models look from the concept art. It really doesn't look like the same concept at all. The concept art looks much more threatening.

Roleplaying in general creates awkward situations that you wouldn't normally face though, so is it really that bad for people to play opposite genders in games? Even if you're jokingly flirting with someone, it's really your character flirting with their character. It's no different than reading about two people flirting in a book, except that you are controlling one of the characters. I don't think people assume that the player is the same gender as the character, but subconsciously we sorta think of it that way, especially if we're playing the character "in character" and doing things the way we think that character would do them rather than doing things how we would personally do them.

For example, just because you kill demons in a game, does that mean you'd do the same in real life? Nah, you'd die in act 1 in real life. So why stop there? Why not have a little fun roleplaying?

Plus, it makes a good cover story. "I'm not really a pervert. I just play one. Wanna come hang out sometime? In my basement?"

On one hand, people always complain about the monsters in games. Anyone pay attention to message boards about Doom 3 before it came out? Everyone thought the monsters were unoriginal and not scary at all, but then you play it, and you never want to alone in the dark again for the rest of your life.

On the other hand, Diablo enemies do tend to work the opposite way. They look really cool, but when it comes down to it, most aren't threatening at all. As he mentioned, the tentacle beasts...they look and sound pretty dangerous, until you one-shot, and think "wait, that was it?."

Personally, i did't like much of Act 2's enemies. Saber Cats just seemed silly, and the vultures only flew for effect...really you could just run past them if you wanted. The beetles were just annoying, and the lightning they shot out made no sense at all. Come to think of it, most of the elemental damage from monsters didn't make much sense...

Vampires with fire, bats with lightning, and cold enemies in act 5 with no cold damage...what's going on here! I hope they rethink the elements in general. I'd like to see the Pagan elements personally, Earth Fire Water Wind and Spirit, since Blizzard doesn't seem to mind using stuff from actual religions anyway (the pentagram for example being from Paganism, and the Zakarum seem to be loosely based on Christianity)

I wonder if this will impact the game-play at all? I mean, if the monsters are distracted, maybe you can sneak by them, or use it to your advantage and get the first hit? In D2 act 5, you could do both of those depending on the situation. On the other hand, you didn't really need to...i saw it as basically an aesthetics thing, just there for effect. But it would be nice to see more AI. I wasn't wild about how the barbs in act 5 often got stuck "patrolling" walls and cliffs if you killed their attackers. That sorta killed the effect. It was like "hey man, i just saved your life, and you repay me by running back and forth in front of a cliff?"

i liked the quest that one demon gives you, to get him an item or something, but then he turns on you when you return.

Also, one time some guy came in asking for "Diablo's Soulstone" so my friend and i kept putting up town portals on top of fire walls, and telling him that i had the soulstone, but the soulstone was controlling my character. Usually i'm not the type to prey on the ignorance of other people, but it was way too funny, because we thought HE was the one messing with us at first, until about the third time he came through the portal trying to get the soulstone from me. Even after i explained to him that soulstones are only in D2, he still kept trying to come down to us over and over.

By the way, if that person happened to be any of you, then you have permission to kill me on sight in D3. (hahaha) No, just kidding, i'll still fight back

Try walking through any area that isn't filled in on your map. any large openings that may not have been explored. Also, make sure to walk around the perimiter completely, looking for doors and openings that may have been missed the first time through.

Or, if you have explored everything, go back to town and pick up any items you may have left on the ground, then save and exit, and start a new game with that character. You'll keep all experience and items you have gained (as long as those items are in your inventory or equipped), but the dungeons will be completely reset and you'll have a new random dungeon to go through. You'll have to go through levels 1-6 again, but that shouldn't be a problem at all, just a bit time-consuming. Just don't forget to save during the new game once you find the next level...

I typically play a melee character my first time through a game. D1 = Warriors, D2 = Paladins, WoW = Warriors and Paladins. So there's a good chance i'll start with the Barb. I prefer to play one extreme or the other, not wild about the dual-class sort of characters. I felt a bit lost when i started playing a paladin in WoW because of the focus on a blend of magic and melee, but i'm sure D3 will be a little easier to adapt to different playstyles.

I like the way they designed the barb this time. They seem older, more experienced, easier to take seriously. They look wise. And the idea of awise melee character has me smirking. They don't just go in and beat stuff up, they use the environment to help them, which means you need to be more alert this time around instead of just running in swinging your axe at anything that moves.

Although i will miss the Necro, i'm eager to play a witchdoctor. It looks like there's a lot of improvising you can do with his skills, rather than just click-kill, it looks more strategy-based. Different abilities for different situations. I just hope they didn't make it too complex. From what i understand there's only 4 hotbar abilitiy spots (in the place of the old potion spots if i'm not mistaken) so hopefully they are still easy enough to play.

I'm looking forward to learning more about them. I'm sure they have some interesting lore, and although they seem different at first, considering that D2 had Necros and Amazons, they actually don't seem out-of-place at all. That's what i was worried about at first, they didn't seem like they should be in a Diablo game, but if you take into consideration the diversity of the other classes we've had, they seem to fit just right.

Quote from "mahamoti" »

Trading can be used to rip off players who dont know item values as well. Thats just part of the game...and its something that adds fun to the game. If all items had their true trade value plastered on them the game would be much less dynamic and fun.

If Blizzaed is improving everything, why should they stop at knowing the value of items? Personally, i can't stand it when i HAVE to read outside sources in order to know how a online game works. No game should work that way. A player should not be punished for not knowing something that people who've played for a longer time know. If it were always like that, no one would even buy old games, because all the veteran players would rule the game's economy. And look how well that's doing in D2 - it's terrible. People wanting SOJ's for the most basic of items and whatnot is ridiculous.

Of course veteran players will understand more about the way the fighting and battles work, but what i mean is, the trading system should not hinder the growth of the game. One of the reasons WoW is so hard to get into for new people is the simple fact that everyone is expected to know everything already, which is counter-productive in this sort of game.

With gold, it's easy to figure out what the value is. But don't you remember the first time you saw a green item on D2? I remember - i thought it was a glitch. Should that be used against me? Should i be punished for learning thing as i go? No way.

Understanding how a game works by playing for a long time is one thing, but using that knowledge to rip people off goes completely against what Blizzard is doing to take away the factor of unfair competition. There's no fun in that, only anger and annoyance. Or, in the case of the one with the upper hand, a sadistic satisfaction, which should probably be saved for game sthat are built from the ground up to serve those kinds of people (i.e. most shooters and arena-fighting games). But Diablo is going in a direction of user-friendly co-op, which i feel is a very, very good thing.

WoW has the perfect skill tree system. most early abilities are either passive or still used at higher levels, nothing is really wasted at all.if there weren't skill trees, and ways of having to get smaller abilities to get to the big ones, then it would be chaos. level 1 characters running around using super-powered abilities? no thanks...that's part of the point of leveling, so you know how to play your character before you run in and start using powerful stuff.

it's a cool idea, but only for hardcore gamers. and what if you think you have everything you need, but then you find an upgrade? then you're stuck with a figure that isn't geared right, unless the pieces are interchangable. which would get expensive: ordering new parts to match your upgraded gear every time you get something else? i think in-game titles would be enough to satisfy people, like the way WoW used to work in PvP. different titles for different accomplishments.

there's a lot of people that don't pay attention to the aesthetic stuff though, for example, how many people actually did the item customization in D2? even a lot of the hardcore gamers didn't bother with it, since you never know when you're gonna get something to replace your customized items...

i like the general idea of "rare" sets, but why bother giving them specific text when we don't even know for sure if D3 will have movement speed enhancement, exp bonuses, etc?

"rare sets" is a good base idea though. since rares are often thrown away and sets are not found often enough, a good balance between the two would be nice. something to collect and use as you go, but isn't completely overpowered. since a lot of low level D2 set items aren't even as good as magic items, it would be nice to see more stats on them like a rare.

most of this sounds exactly like WoW. the idea of random quests is alright, but for people that play a lot, it will quickly become routine, and not random at all. just like the randomly generated side-areas in D2, unless there's a specific reward, people will lose interest. there are lots of little side caves and stuff in D2 that go completely un noticed simply because the only things you can gain there are things you can gain anywhere else too.

We all know Diablo is classified as a "dungeon-crawler" and all that. We all are aware of how many legions of enemies we will be facing. But, it still holds many RPG based ideas, such as the different classes and their history. So, what could we do when we aren't bashing the life out of minions?

here's some ideas (some old, some new, some already done before) mostly involving the safe places (towns and whatnot)

Gambling: And I mean, not just clicking on an item and hoping it rules. I mean, getting together with other players to place bets, in some medieval fashion, to actually gamble for money or items.

Dueling: although not a fan of it personally, it would certainly be a way to have some fun without having to just fight fight fight (monsters). Yet, at the same time, it uses the game's current mechanics to do damage and whatnot, so it doesn't require a whole new system to be designed. Perhaps it could incorperate a system that keeps track of your wins and losses similar to WoW's "Arena teams"

Game Room or Tavern: a place to sit back with your character specifically for talking, perhaps in-character. (actual roleplaying) or perhaps play some sort of darts minigame or something else that would coincide with the era it's (kind of) based on.
the game room/Tavern could contain things like
Darts or some kind of dart game
Drinking Contests (not sure how they'd incorporate this into the game)
Foot-Racing of some sort
Hall of Fame - an in-game wall of player names who have done special deeds or were the first to get certain items...maybe even a board to post challenge opportunities on
Viewable inventory showcase - to show off your special items you have on display or to trade. maybe just for "trophie" items, thins that people can gauk at (for example, got 10 SOJ's? prove it, put them on display)


I have lots of ideas, but i'm not sure how well they'd fit into the diablo universe. I'm aware that this may seem to take players' mind off the dangers of the outside, but on the other hand, it would add massivly to replayability and perhaps allow the player to make friends with people you might not have played with otherwise.

Personally, I was always one of those people that would just hang around in town, even with my high level characters that didn't need anything, just to talk or do goofy things like racing from one side of town to another with all our fastest gear on...so this would appeal to people that are either light gamers or so heavy into it that they've done everything, but still want to play in the Diablo environment. Or just for an in-game break from the battles outside.

What do you think? Like it, Hate it? Any ideas?

i like the idea, but i think they could beef it up a little, or have it makes sense with the storyline somehow. maybe use some sort of extra "sight" that allows you to see enemy placements.

on the other hand, i didn't really see any emphasis on light radius. plus, monster don't just spawn offscreen, they come up out of the depths specifically for you. so i don't think that sort of thing would help you much.

it all depends on the game mechanics. it might help in some places and not others. but i do like abilities that aren't class specific, because they allow a way to make your character better beyond just your own personal abilities.