Sirian's First Impression

[LavCat]

Beta is the first Act only, and the max clvl is 13 (you can reach this by repeatedly running the final quest).

How do you get mobs to respawn so that you can kill them again?

I also wonder if anyone else has had the screen go dark when fighting Leoric?

[Arnulf]

Just wanted to post in a thread started by Sirian and wherein MongoJerry replied within, no less! It's like the last ten years didn't pass for me. I wonder if Bolty would... err, never mind.

Nothing to see here! Move along!

[Ruvanal]

Beta is the first Act only, and the max clvl is 13 (you can reach this by repeatedly running the final quest).

How do you get mobs to respawn so that you can kill them again?

Exit to game selection and start a new game. There should be controls to restart any quest arc you have already completed also.

I also wonder if anyone else has had the screen go dark when fighting Leoric?

Not for me.

[Bolty]

*Arnulf posts for the first time in 4 years, joining a host of other long-gone Lurkers coming back*

[NuurAbSaal]

To chime in with my thoughts after a few hours of play:

I really enjoyed my brief time in Sanctuary. As soon as the music started I had a rather strong feeling of nostalgia hit me and I was super-excited to see if the game would hold up to my expectations.

The atmosphere is great, the game sets a grim tone from the get-go and there are a lot of little things that make you feel like you really are in the most god-forsaken place in Sanctuary. Everything works for me, color palette (if a bit heavy on the grey, overall), scenery, voice acting and especially the music. Having some sort of physics engine that has banners fluttering (right word?) when you dish out a mighty blow next to them is also rather cool .

Gameplay-wise... well, there really isn't enough of it in the Beta to come to a final verdict, in my opinion. I'm not a fan of the limited amount of skills and the way they are set up by default, I haven't gotten around to fiddling with custom key bindings though, so controls might turn out to be a non-issue come release. The limited skills available in the Beta were annoying, I'd very much have liked to try out something like a final setup and various "builds". As it were, the Barbarian and the Monk played very similar, same with the Demon Hunter and the Wizard. I had the most fun with the Witch Doctor, though that's definitely just me, no objective ranking of classes.

I missed the D2-style overlay map, other than that most changes felt like improvements. No more scrolls and pots clogging up the inventory, auto-gold pickup etc. made the game more fun for me. Not to mention the shared gold and stash, no more muling sessions where I log in the wrong character three times in a row... What I've seen of the Follower (Hireling) and Artisan systems seemed interesting enough but again, what little is in the Beta is not enough for a definitive opinion on my part.

All the little nods to the previous games (and the major ones coming with the storyline) had me smiling often. Black Mushroom, anyone?

In summary: I bought the game and have the client sitting on my computer, awaiting the 15th.

take care
Tarabulus

[kandrathe]

The downside of magic find is that my level 99 D2 sorceress cannot pick up any items because every inventory slot is a charm of magic find. I hope D3 has a fix for this.

In DII I had a spare change of clothes in the Stash for MF gear. I would use the good gear to level, and make progress toward mastery, then once I was comfortable in an area switch out to the MF suit to rinse repeat a few times to see if I could improve my good gear set for further progression. Yes, it sucked to have to do that.

The problem that I see is the fundamental focus on gear over character skill. In the real world (hand to hand combat) any well trained warrior could be in a loin cloth and easily defeat a newb in whatever you wanted to dress them in. In the Blizzards game worlds we are forced to focus on getting the gear ( a nefarious feeder bar version of Monty Haul). I just get a little tired of multi-player games where I can't play with my friends when they aren't dressed just right. Even in paper and pencil RPG's I've always preferred the idea that use of a skill gives you progress with that skill to a diminishing level of mastery (but, maybe never really able to get to 100% mastery). I'm not against gear enhancing skill, but the way I see it, gear should never become the bulk the characters abilities.

Overall, I think the issue would be more of a PVP thing. For PVE, if the past Diablo games are any measure, I doubt you would be impeded too much from progression because you lack a certain L337 item.

[NiteFox]

In the Blizzards game worlds we are forced to focus on getting the gear ( a nefarious feeder bar version of Monty Haul).

This actually makes sense from a game design point of view. No one will carry on playing a game just so they can punch a monster's head off slightly more effectively than they did the level before, but they will do so just to get shiny new weapons and armour. I guess as Lurkers you're a little different.

I was asked by a fellow player why I was running LFR Dragon Soul during a particularly bad Fall of Deathwing run (Not the worst I've ever run, but still...). I didn't need the gear even though I can still bag a few upgrades if they dropped, and the gold/VP payoff was a nice bonus but not entirely necessary. I was running "boring old Madness" because I still actually enjoy the encounter.

I guess it's the Lurker's way that you're more than happy to run the maze while everyone else is focused on the cheese.

[Nystul]

[quote='LavCat' pid='195167' dateline='1334428483']In the Blizzards game worlds we are forced to focus on getting the gear ( a nefarious feeder bar version of Monty Haul).

This actually makes sense from a game design point of view. No one will carry on playing a game just so they can punch a monster's head off slightly more effectively than they did the level before, but they will do so just to get shiny new weapons and armour. I guess as Lurkers you're a little different.

I was asked by a fellow player why I was running LFR Dragon Soul during a particularly bad Fall of Deathwing run (Not the worst I've ever run, but still...). I didn't need the gear even though I can still bag a few upgrades if they dropped, and the gold/VP payoff was a nice bonus but not entirely necessary. I was running "boring old Madness" because I still actually enjoy the encounter.

I guess it's the Lurker's way that you're more than happy to run the maze while everyone else is focused on the cheese.

I used to refer to it as "playing Pokemon". It's this idea that the real game is about finding every cute little thing you want (or trading your friend for it!) and the game play is just some BS you have to go through along the way. But in retrospect I think that is insulting to Pokemon which is a pretty cool game.

I do find some disturbing trends along these lines though in the way RPGs have devolved. It is no longer even about playing the game anymore, it seems. The goal is just to rush through everything, respec your character, do loot runs, moan about the lack of "end game content", etc. And I'll admit to getting caught up in some of that as well, as it can be fun for some amount of time. But when it got to the point where people are paying RL money to have someone level up their character or find items for them so they don't have to go through the work of playing the darn game, I realized that a large chunk of the RPG community is really not playing the same game as me whatsoever. Give me Ironman D1 every day of the week, and I'll gladly start each day at level 1 with a short bow or staff of charged bolt.

But more seriously, the problem with games designed by munchkins is that the balance quickly gets out of control. There is not much nuance in a lot of these games so the character build and gear determine the outcome of each battle. Do you balance the "end game" to challenge the munchkins with their ubergear and cookie cutter skills? Or do you give the have-nots a fighting chance while making the game a cakewalk for most?

But this is the sort of issue that Sirian knows much more about than any game dev so his initial impressions at least are promising!

[kandrathe]

I guess it's the Lurker's way that you're more than happy to run the maze while everyone else is focused on the cheese.

I jumped mentally to the movie metaphor. Some movies (Action genre in particular) are made to be mindless pablum with formulaic predictability, while others are artistic in every regard. We are gamers. I think we have high standards when it comes to game play. It's a role playing game, not an arcade shooter, so in my way of thinking the motivation should be delivered by the game for characters to "role play". Repeatability can be built into the "plot" (rescue more, capture more, lead the wave against, etc.), and motivation can be directed toward self improvement rather than gear improvement.

I think that Blizzard has all the capability to create an even more artistically superior RPG than most other publishers. Will they aim for that artistry? Or will go for the blockbuster and deliver a forgettable consumable to the mindless masses?

P.S. I think of it more as an elaborate slot machine... BAR - BAR - BAR Izod!

[NuurAbSaal]

[quote='LavCat' pid='195167' dateline='1334428483']In the Blizzards game worlds we are forced to focus on getting the gear ( a nefarious feeder bar version of Monty Haul).

This actually makes sense from a game design point of view. No one will carry on playing a game just so they can punch a monster's head off slightly more effectively than they did the level before, but they will do so just to get shiny new weapons and armour. I guess as Lurkers you're a little different.

I was asked by a fellow player why I was running LFR Dragon Soul during a particularly bad Fall of Deathwing run (Not the worst I've ever run, but still...). I didn't need the gear even though I can still bag a few upgrades if they dropped, and the gold/VP payoff was a nice bonus but not entirely necessary. I was running "boring old Madness" because I still actually enjoy the encounter.

I guess it's the Lurker's way that you're more than happy to run the maze while everyone else is focused on the cheese.

I used to refer to it as "playing Pokemon". It's this idea that the real game is about finding every cute little thing you want (or trading your friend for it!) and the game play is just some BS you have to go through along the way. But in retrospect I think that is insulting to Pokemon which is a pretty cool game.

I do find some disturbing trends along these lines though in the way RPGs have devolved. It is no longer even about playing the game anymore, it seems. The goal is just to rush through everything, respec your character, do loot runs, moan about the lack of "end game content", etc. And I'll admit to getting caught up in some of that as well, as it can be fun for some amount of time. But when it got to the point where people are paying RL money to have someone level up their character or find items for them so they don't have to go through the work of playing the darn game, I realized that a large chunk of the RPG community is really not playing the same game as me whatsoever. Give me Ironman D1 every day of the week, and I'll gladly start each day at level 1 with a short bow or staff of charged bolt.

But more seriously, the problem with games designed by munchkins is that the balance quickly gets out of control. There is not much nuance in a lot of these games so the character build and gear determine the outcome of each battle. Do you balance the "end game" to challenge the munchkins with their ubergear and cookie cutter skills? Or do you give the have-nots a fighting chance while making the game a cakewalk for most?

But this is the sort of issue that Sirian knows much more about than any game dev so his initial impressions at least are promising!

I'm sure you are absolutely right about the pokemon aspect and rushing and buying items and leveling services. As long as that's a choice and doesn't affect me and the way I want to play the game, I have no problem with that whatsoever.

I can "make" my own balance and fun, much like most people that post here I imagine. The new toolbox for creating said fun, Diablo 3, looks awesome .

take care
Tarabulus

[Sirian]

But this is the sort of issue that Sirian knows much more about than any game dev so his initial impressions at least are promising!

Sirian is a game dev and has been for almost a decade now.


- Sirian

[Nystul]

But this is the sort of issue that Sirian knows much more about than any game dev so his initial impressions at least are promising!

Sirian is a game dev and has been for almost a decade now.


- Sirian

Ah, I stand corrected! Not so promising then.