It would fit in perfectly with all the other RNG systems already in play. Why not add one more.
Personally I'm not a huge fan of it. When it works for you, it makes you feel awesome and super powered, but when it doesn't, you feel like you're behind everyone else who got lucky. Like rolling the perfect Ancient weapon with ideal stats, high base damage and max affix. You either get lucky or your progress gets soft capped. That's what this looks like to me.
The system isn't broken so it doesn't need fixing. It's working as intended, aside from lacking misclick prevention. It's a pointless grind, but so are many things in the game, like requiring low grift runs to level up gems or running a rift solely for the grift key at the end.
The order system is in place to randomize the feature and get people doing the content without mindlessly grinding one act over and over. If they remove the order, then people would go back to farming one act. A better solution is to implement bounty counts on the UI, maybe a big indicator with completion status in the top middle so everyone knows where they should be progressing instead of checking the map. Have the UI only appear If you join a bounty run through the adventure mode option, or pop up after the first bounty in a zone is completed. If a bounty is done in the non-bonus zone, it should clearly state on your screen where the bonus is.
Make the progress checker only appear in town. Make it big, noticeable and in your face; annoying enough that if you want to get rid of that screen clutter you need to complete the bounty.
I don't see a reason to. Blizzard does what works, but the change has to be warranted.
World of Warcraft was made because Everquest was something they thought had potential and they could do a better version of, not because Warcraft RTS needed to be evolved. If Diablo has to evolve its camera positioning, then it has to be to support some core game design element, not just because it looks cool or different.
Kinda like Resident Evil games, how it changed from being static positioned horror genre into more action gameplay controlled by a character; the change was made to support the gameplay. I don't think Diablo necessarily needs that kind of change unless they really want to bring back the original atmospheric horror style. They risk giving up practically everything else by doing that. The fast-frantic powergaming aspects wouldn't translate in a 3rd person over-the-shoulder view. This view is best for a slower paced action game that doesn't clutter the screen with spell effects and hundreds of enemies/pets at a time.
To be fair, I think they hyped it up too much through their ambiguous responses.
When someone tweets 'I really hope this year Diablo gets a huge announcement at Blizzcon' and the official Diablo twitter replies "Blizzcon will be really cool this year :-)", a Necro pack and D1-inspired dungeon isn't exactly what people expected.
Well how much is an expansion pack that adds a new character? $50? And how much content would we consider that, since the campaign is usually something you just do once or twice for the story?
$15-20 to me is reasonable for a discounted 'Expansion Pack' that cuts out the story content and new enemies. The latter seems to be given to us for free over time anyways. Of course, I'd prefer a full expansion pack, but it doesn't seem like Blizzard thinks sales will be lucrative enough to push out another package product. This DLC fits way better to hitting their demographic who wants the content without having to wait years for a full expansion pack to be made.
I love this announcement seeing the Necro make its way into D3. The Witchdoctor is a great addition to the Diablo universe, but it was never a true replacement for the bone minion army.
Now that we know this is coming as DLC, is it possible that this is just the beginning and not just some one-off addition?
With the current setup of classes, we have 2 Str, 2 Agi and 2 Int. I'm assuming the Necromancer will be a new Int class. Could this pave the way for the return of the Amazon (Agi) and shapeshifting Druid (Str)?
The Rift and Greater Rift systems are beginnings of what could be a compelling end game. I would prefer if we had more consistency in progress, and not be hampered by the trial system and forced speed run for end-game content. Regular rifts should be able to scale beyond T6.
I would also like to see more variety in boss fights, similar to Ubers. I wouldn't mind if we could have Ubers fights where we fought 2-3 powered up Rift guardians at the same time, with altered mechanics.
But I think what really hampers the end game is the limitations of current balance. We're all stuck using cookie cutter builds, instead of having tens of different builds like we did in D2. It limits how we interact with the end game, feeling like we're doing the same thing because we are. It wouldn't matter if we were fighting the same bosses on end difficulty if we had a reason to obtain gear that wasn't a higher roll of your current setpiece.
Again, the problem stems from the Vit class itself, not just its comparisons to how well they survive compared to other classes. The class has no natural EHP other than what is provided by gear, and its main stat adds no added benefit for EHP. It adds a larger health pool, and that WILL skew the game system because the game isn't designed to be balanced with a health pool exceeding the normal range that all other classes obtain through min-maxing.
Ability mechanics and passives don't make up for this without causing unintended balance issues. Besides balance, there is also changing the way this class itemizes compared to every other class. Vitality is no longer a secondary defense trait that exists on gear. Instead of weighting All Res vs Vit vs Armor, this class will only weight All Res and Armor. Life% is always going to be a huge bonus because it scales greatly with a high HP pool. The breakpoints for EHP vs Vit are still going to be skewed towards gaining as much Vit as possible, since that is intended to be the primary damage stat.
There's no way to prove the argument either way unless Blizz breaks their own system. Blizzard has homogenized the system to work interchangeably between all classes. You can literally remove the Dex/Str/Int requirements and call it 'Power', and every class will work exactly the same. Even with 2.1, Dex provides Armor instead of Dodge, which makes EHP the same as STR.
There is no plausible game design reason to use VIT as a primary DPS source. A squishy, high-HP class who is encouraged to gain more health with their damage is a confusing concept. STR and DEX represent clear ideals, even if they are practically the same. Monks and DH are agile fighters, while Barbarians and Crusaders are brawny powerhouses. VIT is already seen purely as a defensive stat, and making it into a DPS stat muddles that concept. Even a class that uses STR/DEX/INT interchangeably would at least fit the design parameters of the game.
1
It would fit in perfectly with all the other RNG systems already in play. Why not add one more.
Personally I'm not a huge fan of it. When it works for you, it makes you feel awesome and super powered, but when it doesn't, you feel like you're behind everyone else who got lucky. Like rolling the perfect Ancient weapon with ideal stats, high base damage and max affix. You either get lucky or your progress gets soft capped. That's what this looks like to me.
1
The system isn't broken so it doesn't need fixing. It's working as intended, aside from lacking misclick prevention. It's a pointless grind, but so are many things in the game, like requiring low grift runs to level up gems or running a rift solely for the grift key at the end.
The order system is in place to randomize the feature and get people doing the content without mindlessly grinding one act over and over. If they remove the order, then people would go back to farming one act. A better solution is to implement bounty counts on the UI, maybe a big indicator with completion status in the top middle so everyone knows where they should be progressing instead of checking the map. Have the UI only appear If you join a bounty run through the adventure mode option, or pop up after the first bounty in a zone is completed. If a bounty is done in the non-bonus zone, it should clearly state on your screen where the bonus is.
Make the progress checker only appear in town. Make it big, noticeable and in your face; annoying enough that if you want to get rid of that screen clutter you need to complete the bounty.
2
I don't see a reason to. Blizzard does what works, but the change has to be warranted.
World of Warcraft was made because Everquest was something they thought had potential and they could do a better version of, not because Warcraft RTS needed to be evolved. If Diablo has to evolve its camera positioning, then it has to be to support some core game design element, not just because it looks cool or different.
Kinda like Resident Evil games, how it changed from being static positioned horror genre into more action gameplay controlled by a character; the change was made to support the gameplay. I don't think Diablo necessarily needs that kind of change unless they really want to bring back the original atmospheric horror style. They risk giving up practically everything else by doing that. The fast-frantic powergaming aspects wouldn't translate in a 3rd person over-the-shoulder view. This view is best for a slower paced action game that doesn't clutter the screen with spell effects and hundreds of enemies/pets at a time.
2
To be fair, I think they hyped it up too much through their ambiguous responses.
When someone tweets 'I really hope this year Diablo gets a huge announcement at Blizzcon' and the official Diablo twitter replies "Blizzcon will be really cool this year :-)", a Necro pack and D1-inspired dungeon isn't exactly what people expected.
1
Well how much is an expansion pack that adds a new character? $50? And how much content would we consider that, since the campaign is usually something you just do once or twice for the story?
$15-20 to me is reasonable for a discounted 'Expansion Pack' that cuts out the story content and new enemies. The latter seems to be given to us for free over time anyways. Of course, I'd prefer a full expansion pack, but it doesn't seem like Blizzard thinks sales will be lucrative enough to push out another package product. This DLC fits way better to hitting their demographic who wants the content without having to wait years for a full expansion pack to be made.
2
I love this announcement seeing the Necro make its way into D3. The Witchdoctor is a great addition to the Diablo universe, but it was never a true replacement for the bone minion army.
Now that we know this is coming as DLC, is it possible that this is just the beginning and not just some one-off addition?
With the current setup of classes, we have 2 Str, 2 Agi and 2 Int. I'm assuming the Necromancer will be a new Int class. Could this pave the way for the return of the Amazon (Agi) and shapeshifting Druid (Str)?
1
I would also like to see more variety in boss fights, similar to Ubers. I wouldn't mind if we could have Ubers fights where we fought 2-3 powered up Rift guardians at the same time, with altered mechanics.
But I think what really hampers the end game is the limitations of current balance. We're all stuck using cookie cutter builds, instead of having tens of different builds like we did in D2. It limits how we interact with the end game, feeling like we're doing the same thing because we are. It wouldn't matter if we were fighting the same bosses on end difficulty if we had a reason to obtain gear that wasn't a higher roll of your current setpiece.
1
Ability mechanics and passives don't make up for this without causing unintended balance issues. Besides balance, there is also changing the way this class itemizes compared to every other class. Vitality is no longer a secondary defense trait that exists on gear. Instead of weighting All Res vs Vit vs Armor, this class will only weight All Res and Armor. Life% is always going to be a huge bonus because it scales greatly with a high HP pool. The breakpoints for EHP vs Vit are still going to be skewed towards gaining as much Vit as possible, since that is intended to be the primary damage stat.
There's no way to prove the argument either way unless Blizz breaks their own system. Blizzard has homogenized the system to work interchangeably between all classes. You can literally remove the Dex/Str/Int requirements and call it 'Power', and every class will work exactly the same. Even with 2.1, Dex provides Armor instead of Dodge, which makes EHP the same as STR.
There is no plausible game design reason to use VIT as a primary DPS source. A squishy, high-HP class who is encouraged to gain more health with their damage is a confusing concept. STR and DEX represent clear ideals, even if they are practically the same. Monks and DH are agile fighters, while Barbarians and Crusaders are brawny powerhouses. VIT is already seen purely as a defensive stat, and making it into a DPS stat muddles that concept. Even a class that uses STR/DEX/INT interchangeably would at least fit the design parameters of the game.