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Why would they announce an expansion one week *before* Blizzcon? Never. Going. To. Happen.
https://gyazo.com/bfdaf7d7ca787a58a78db6bc73b7f7ea
Ohhh boy i hate him for saying this. What do you think are they planing? Im hoping for news about a new expansion.
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Here's a pro tip. Don't use exploits and get banned. By not using exploits and getting banned, you don't have to interact with the GMs. Seems simple. If I was the GM, I'd add another 2 weeks for this thread alone......
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HC comes with it's own built in end game, exclusive to that mode. Death. ...or....avoiding death. Permanent death. Your character isn't rolling over to SC like in PoE, this is real HC.
HC has rewarded me endlessly. It saved D3 for me when the game was at it's lowest points early on. Now that D3 is a legit top-shelf ARPG (IMO), I am bound to HC mode. I simply couldn't enjoy the game without it.
Objectively speaking; HC adds an aspect to the game that it currently doesn't have outside of HC. It makes it possible for you to lose. It's a game, you should be able to lose. There is no PvP, so if you want to risk loss, hardcore is for you.
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I (ab-)used the recent raised activity level of the community to bring attention to a topic that's worrying me lately - which is the glaring disparity in paragon levels, which turns it into a required grind rather than the optional addition to end-game that it was meant to be in the beginning.
Here's the original thread on the official forums: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/18300609977 and the copy/paste:
The PTR is online, everything is going to be tested, and everything looks great. Even the biggest problem for most players in 2.2.1 (trials) has been addressed (i.e., removed). Thank you for that, it's looking great!
Along those lines, another important issue has been addressed recently - the injustice in gaining paragon levels (i.e., "leechers" in XP runs), as John Yang tweeted today. That's also a very welcome change. Nevertheless, there's an underlying issue that could easily evolve into the next big frustration thing for many players, given that paragon leveling becomes even easier in 2.3. And that is the fact that:
Leveling paragon is mandatory, and is becoming more and more mandatory.
In the beginning of the system everyone started with not more than paragon 350ish, if I remember correctly. The subsequent steps were celebrated by the community: first 500, first 600, first 700, first 800, and so on. Those were milestones that were hard to achieve, it was more like a challenge and less like something that was achievable for the average Joe player - let alone something that actually had a benefit in relation to the effort required to get there. However, recently this has changed. More exactly, it changed with the XP bonus changes in 2.2 that ended in changing the XP gain by an order of magnitude (10b XP per hour was something impressive once, these days you need to be north of 100b XP per hour to achieve the same effect).
I cannot find the bluepost anymore, but I remember that after the inception of the paragon system you (Blizzard) constantly stated that paragon should be optional and not mandatory anymore. Well, that has changed.
Now that paragon 800 is not an elusive visionary goal anymore but something the top players achieve in far less than a week, the system turns from some optional endgame thing to strive for into a mandatory thing to complete. Optimizing gear and gem ranks is important, but paragon is as important to reach high rankings. To bring up a clearer example: from paragon 600 to 800 the effective benefit you get is 50 more points in the first tab - 150 points are more or less "meh". From paragon 800 to 1000, you gain 200 points in the first tab, which means 1000 main stat. The real paragon system starts after 1000 - and never stops. Some players will be paragon 2000 (!) in 2-3 weeks (Dani and Ryu on EU non-season), and some more will be after the season ends and non-season and season XP are being added (Vajet on EU season is also close to 1900 in combined paragon). 2000 paragon means those players will have 5000 (!) more main stat than a paragon 1000 player - which is someone who also does play quite a lot - but it's a gap that no rift RNG, no gem rank efforts, no gear differences can close.
Another concrete example: I'm paragon 950 as I write this and get 5 main stat more every 30-40 minutes if I run speed Greater Rifts. That's a guaranteed (!) upgrade that I don't get easily from gear anymore, especially not in this time frame. However, it's also a really boring upgrade. It doesn't give me an excitement as a new item does, even if that item is a very minor upgrade. The core of Diablo should - as it has always been - the item hunt. It should not be trials, it should not be RNG, and it should not be paragon.
I recently heard a lot of players - even famous streamers - saying the same thing, and those guys are playing basically 24/7. Yet, because they do not leech paragon 24/7 but enjoy the game in all its glory, they have the feeling that they cannot compete anymore.
Anyways, long explanation, but here are two short solutions:
1) Scale down the XP gained. Basically, if it was 1/10th of what it is now, players wouldn't reach paragon 1500 after 2 months into the season (which is the fact now!), but rather "only" paragon ~870 (50 trillion versus 5 trillion combined XP required). However, that might impact some player's experience negatively... as high-level players wouldn't gain any paragon levels anymore, and low-level players might never reach that nice paragon 800. Therefore, a potentially better solution:
2) Make the benefit of paragon levels after 800 less "overpowered". Every level above 800 should only give one main stat, for example; and it should probably be pre-assigned to the core main stat (so you don't have to re-assign all the leftover points once you switch to a different character). It would still give high-paragon players a huge advantage (those paragon 2000 players would still have 1000 main stat more than active, but not super crazy players); but it wouldn't be as much of a difference as it is now (which is more than having all items ancient vs. non-ancient).
TL;DR: Change paragon XP gain or benefits after 800 to make it non-mandatory and optional again. Thanks!
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Quote from beast_of_boredom»
I don't think its actually started yet. looks like it starts around 07:00 PST
Well, the buff is active (EU at least) so...
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TL;DR: don't waste your time here, go play the game. If you ever feel anxiety you may get something from this wall of text.
Hello guys today i wanted to write a little about how do i feel about the current meta in the game (leaderboards and greater rifts) and how did i feel in the past when diablo 2 was THE game.
I been suffering anxiety disorders since 12 y/o (i'm 25 btw) and i can deal with them in real life most of the time but while i can not play every game like most of you (e.g i can't play dying light, it's really unpleasant) i wanna tackle the whole "you're good at diablo 3 if you are on the leaderboards/you can complete G50 solo/etc"
I been playing diablo 3 since RoS came out, not understanding shit about mechanics until season 2 started (i was new and i didn't have friends to tell me how to play the game; nor did i knew reddit and sites like that) so when i started to understand the mechanics and how to gear up, set up skils and so on i started to play more seriously and more dedicated ('cause i don't really have a life so what better than achieve stuff online imma right?)
Well season 2 started and i mained monk, played the first two days straight and geared up really quick and started pushing solo, at one point in the first week i even was rank 5 (silly me, still i felt really good) but when the season was 1 month or near the end i wasn't even on the leaderboards, i tried pushing solo but no luck, felt really dissapointed but meh i focus on leveling paragons like crazy ending up at 763 which made my non seasonal paragon 800 (i like round numbers)
So s3 started, i entered a really nice clan and thought "well i can try pushing a little harder" fast forward week and a half and i completed G50 solo; which is shit i know, probabilly i not gonna end up in leaderboards at the end of the season with this, but to me it's freaking HUGE, because i know the frustration it took (and yes, i'm a shity player, not near a good one so you can save that, but i don't fish for grifts, i try to make each key count and give it my best try)
Proof: 
After killing the boss i was fucking amazed, my heart was pumping blood like if it was a big deal, prior to this i muted the clan chat because no one would give a fuck about a G50 completed by me but i wanted to maintain the mistery and pleasure of someone maybe typing a "GG bro".
I love this game and franchise, been hooked up since i can remember and what i most loved about diablo 2 is the fun at parties with friends, farming baals and leveling chars, i didn't really enjoyed the PvP (you can see why) and the same applies to D3, i love farming in groups, sharing items (this is why i haven't been kicked out i guess, i'm always powerleveling people or sharing the gear that i get) love playing solo but i can't deal with the frustration of trying to be "the number one" o not just that, just a "decent good player"
The moral of this wall of text is the most obvious shit that you can read in many places; don't compare to others, don't put yourself unreal goals and try to enjoy your playtime.
I'm gonna post this before i feel stupid and delete it.
If you wanna throw me shit i don't really care but if just onepeople feeling like me read this and it helps him my job here is done.
PS: sorry about the gramar mistakes, i'm not from NA and i don't speak/write in english nor do i have studied the language.
PS2: If this isn't forum material feel free to delete it.
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The most common difference between a "performance" laptop and a "gaming" laptop would maybe be the dedicated graphics card. Some performance laptops have one and some don't, but most gaming laptops will. This makes a large difference in rendering due to not having to steal memory or CPU cycles from the motherboard. While popular with gaming, any video intensive application would benefit from this. Your description of the topographical maps sounds like it would benefit from a dedicated GPU.
Another possible difference is the monitor size. A performance laptop doesn't necessarily need to go above the 15" models. However, for gaming, a 17" can be a big draw...at the cost of lugging around a heavier machine and usually less battery life. If, however, your mobility is from one desk to another, the full size keyboard and larger screen add up to productivity increases even in non-gaming applications. Personal concerns and usage patterns, then, have a lot to do with that choice. A good docking station at home can allow you to have a large monitor and regular kb/mouse for gaming with mobility if you will be using the laptop from your car instead of a remote office.
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Quote from beast_of_boredom»
First of all, thanks to all responders for the feedback - this is good info. I was using $300 as an example of what machine i would expect to outperform my 8 year old MacBook Pro... My budget will more likely end up nearer the $1k range. I spent a lot more than that on the MBP when it was new. I don't think I will stick with Mac because the engineered obsolescence is killing me. I understand that PC has made some strides and would be easier to do hardware upgrades in the future. I just really need a place from which to start looking without necessarily having to start my research from scratch. I hope to continue to get more great feedback like this as my odyssey continues
The upgradability of the laptop will be very manufacturer and model dependent. Apple has definitely leaned towards the "Ultrabook" model meaning that their laptops have very little upgradability. But, for example, comparable Dell Ultrabooks also have very limited upgradability (mostly due to the formfactor).
My basic $1300 13" MBP w/ Retina Display runs Diablo 3 ok. Not at super high settings, but more than satisfactory when I'm traveling. It's a solid machine if you're going to do other things beyond gaming. But if you're just looking for gaming, you can likely get more graphics horsepower for less money with a Windows laptop. (Not that I'd be thrilled with getting Windows 8 but that's a personal preference.)
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Quote from Sushifrukt»
Most recently I'm talking about giving non-season players access too all the new legendaries. As a gamer who played alot of D2 and LOD. I can say that it's not enough for most to just race for paragon levels or greater rifts.
Sure I could play non-season then. But that doesn't appeal to me.
I hear this a lot from season players. Yet, I don't get it. Why does non-season not appeal to you, but at the same time the season-only rewards are not enough for you?
So you don't think the rewards make it worthwhile to play season, but you also don't want to play non-season. Help me out - why do you not like non-season, why do you want to play season?
Season is a game mode that asks players to start over from scratch. Hit the reset button. I hate that. I absolutely despise being forced to start over again and throw away all my progress just because some artificial reset button was pressed. What's the point? And no, it's *not* fun to start over again, I was forced to do this in LoD with all the ladder-only runewords that, for a casual player, made non-ladder worthless.
If you want to start over, play season. If you don't, play non-season. But just because you personally prefer a certain game mode that does not mean that Blizzard needs to screw all those of us over that don't share your opinion and put all the nice and fancy stuff into your game mode. It's like a HC player asking for HC-only items. I never see HC player asking for this, yet they stay in their game mode. What makes season players so unique that they have to have access to all the items and take it away from non-season players?
No, no, no, no, no. I could not disagree more with this thread. Not everyone thinks like you. Diablo is still based on the ARPG genre, and for me an artificial restart has no place here. I payed the same amount of money for the game as you did, so I don't see why you should get significantly more content than me.
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Note that season 3 will be longer than season 2, probably about 5 months (just a guesstimate). Many of the idea we see in 2.2 have been pitched at Blizzcon already (and were already in some sort of playable state), and from what we've heard in the Tavern Talk they haven't even started developing 2.3 (at least nothing for the Helltooth set rework, for example) - so season 4 will definitely start a bit later this summer. Anything between 3-4 months (very optimistic), 5-6 months (realistic), and 7-8 months (pessimistic and way too long) is possible I guess.
On topic:
I dislike new starts. This is a game of progression for me, I want to constantly improve my character, and don't see how restarting from scratch every now and then should fit into this theme for me (I hated the ladder restarts in D2, but was kind of forced to play it as the low-level ladder-only rune words were just too good to give up).
I don't want to commit to one class. There's almost no week in which I don't play every class at least once. Sometimes I play 3-4 different classes within one evening, just switching back and forth. I also like theorycrafting and testing out new builds, so I keep every item that seems remotely interesting to be able to test out everything whenever I want to. By the time I would have all items for all classes the season would be over.
Therefore: Non-season all the way. There's more than enough interesting stuff to test on non-season anyways.
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While I found this post visually stunning, the content is lacking. OP, are you Michael Bay?
1
Okay, so with the new attention focused on Sever and its mechanics, and now that we've lost what was apparently the only viable melee weapon for this class (and yes, I get it that we're supposed to be ranged. once a black sheep, always a black sheep i guess), I feel even more compelled to get the community's feedback on what could be done to create a viable t6 melee demon hunter. I'm not looking to clear GR50+; I just want to try something different. I'm hoping this thread will start a dialogue toward some novel, and ultimately utilitarian build options for those of us who want to play our way - not the way we're told we have to play (by the devs, by the streamers, or anybody else).
I appreciate your feedback and am looking forward to your thoughts.
Cheers
A.M.
1
Well there went my no-bow DH. I play solo and this thread has apparently killed a fun facet of my gameplay. Let people play how they want to play. Just because some folks get their tighty whiteys in a bunch over a Grift means that I have to be further pigeon-holed into a linear playstyle? Major disappointment.
I appreciate that everyone wants an even playing field, but imho the leaderboards are intended for those who are "leaders" as in innovators, folks who have progressed beyond the average be it via a novel use of equipment combinations, an understanding and exploitation of existing game mechanics or a combination. Isn't that the whole idea? Anyone who gets uptight about that is clearly just sour that they didn't do it first (aka not a leader). And (I don't usually do this because I am a big Bliz fan) shame on blizzard for caving to the complaints when what they should have done was wait for some entrepreneuring gamer to find an even more powerful exploit (I guarantee there are more and stronger out there).
GG to anybody who takes what we've got already and makes something more out of it.
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I haven't seen anything in patch notes that the Istvan's Paired Blades set bonus is getting a change, but I thought I read somewhere on the that it might have a new synergy/utility with upcoming patch 2.2, potentially with Monk? Personally I am a fan of the set as I like DW, especially on melee classes but have found this set heretofore underpowered. Has anyone testing on PTR seen any changes or new applications for this set?
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I have a link to my profile here: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/AtraMors-1633/hero/15444827