07-12-2012, 07:51 PM
The core player complaint (on bnet forums) seems to be "it's all about the gear".
Related complaints are:
"They're forcing us into the AH" (to get the gear)
"The drops (affixes) aren't good" (takes a long time to get good gear)
"Can't level past 60" (no continuing improvement except for gear)
"Can't customize character" (my Wiz is diff from your Wiz only in gear.)
"Champs/elites remove choice in play" (survival when damage cannot be avoided comes down to gear check.)
Yes, they're aware that Diablo series has always been about getting gear.
--- Math diversion follows ---
Mathematically, it's an interesting thought that since combat factors (def and att) are multiplied out, ANY means of changing def or att will be multiplied out. So a weapon going from 20 to 30 DPS will *multiply* your overall dam by a factor of 1.5, instead of just adding something to your overall attack.
So the underlying math multiplying makes it a very clean design, but it also makes your character's life very dependent on every piece of gear.
You can see this at level 9, when adding a couple of 2-4 dam rings can double your DPS and make life a cakewalk at least until 15-20. That's because that new 4-8 dam (+100% to weapon dam) is multiplied by your weapon speed and multiplied by your attack stat (str, dex, int.) Compare with D1 where upgrading your weapon from 10 to 12 dam might take your overall attack from 40 to 42.
So D3 is a smooth linear ascent *on a log scale*. Being undergeared (too low on that log scale) means you're outgunned by N:1 not just ougunned by N.
Now skills are keyed off weapon dam as well ...
Add to that the sudden violence of the encounters in D3 - kill or be killed - a tipping point situation where even a small difference could be critical - and then gear really is very very critical.
The effect is less critical with armor and resists just because there are so many more slots, so that the effect from upgrading any one slot might just multiply your lifespan times 1.02 or some small increment.
Note that this places a heavy burden on item/affix design; any small change can produce a big effect.
Related complaints are:
"They're forcing us into the AH" (to get the gear)
"The drops (affixes) aren't good" (takes a long time to get good gear)
"Can't level past 60" (no continuing improvement except for gear)
"Can't customize character" (my Wiz is diff from your Wiz only in gear.)
"Champs/elites remove choice in play" (survival when damage cannot be avoided comes down to gear check.)
Yes, they're aware that Diablo series has always been about getting gear.
--- Math diversion follows ---
Mathematically, it's an interesting thought that since combat factors (def and att) are multiplied out, ANY means of changing def or att will be multiplied out. So a weapon going from 20 to 30 DPS will *multiply* your overall dam by a factor of 1.5, instead of just adding something to your overall attack.
So the underlying math multiplying makes it a very clean design, but it also makes your character's life very dependent on every piece of gear.
You can see this at level 9, when adding a couple of 2-4 dam rings can double your DPS and make life a cakewalk at least until 15-20. That's because that new 4-8 dam (+100% to weapon dam) is multiplied by your weapon speed and multiplied by your attack stat (str, dex, int.) Compare with D1 where upgrading your weapon from 10 to 12 dam might take your overall attack from 40 to 42.
So D3 is a smooth linear ascent *on a log scale*. Being undergeared (too low on that log scale) means you're outgunned by N:1 not just ougunned by N.
Now skills are keyed off weapon dam as well ...
Add to that the sudden violence of the encounters in D3 - kill or be killed - a tipping point situation where even a small difference could be critical - and then gear really is very very critical.
The effect is less critical with armor and resists just because there are so many more slots, so that the effect from upgrading any one slot might just multiply your lifespan times 1.02 or some small increment.
Note that this places a heavy burden on item/affix design; any small change can produce a big effect.