Was I right to skip DIII?

[Maitre]

So with the meta-discussion in full force about
- this class > that class, the other is impossible past Inferno Ax
- the game being irrevocably broken,
- accounts being hacked,
- followers being useless,
- the failure of online play
- programming shortcuts that lead to scamming,
- the pronouncement that duping has begun and the solution is to cut a continent worth of connections
- the graphics being less than expected
- the skill choices limiting alt/personal tinkering in playstyle
-....

My question is whether I made the right decision by not buying Diablo III? I knew that having a need for constant connection would be an issue for me, and my current PC (a compaq laptop c2007) was likely to have issues trying to run a new release so I decided to wait and see how much I'd be missing before plonking down the cash for DIII. I also don't have the free time now that I did when I was cranking through DII or LoD.

I haven't heard anyone say they regret buying the game, nor have I heard anyone say that it's been great to play/has a great story, and many of the headaches seem to be the same issues that kept me away from battle.net play in Diablo II. Of course, I'm the sort who played a few classes through the end of nightmare in LoD and called that sufficient.

Am missing out on something great, or should I be content that deciding to save the money was the right way to go?

[wkd1]

Am missing out on something great,

Yeah, you are.

[LavCat]

Am missing out on something great,

Yeah, you are.

Yup:

Tyrael's Charger
Fetish Shaman's Spear

[MongoJerry]

So with the meta-discussion in full force about
- this class > that class, the other is impossible past Inferno Ax

All of the classes are pretty well balanced and fun to play. Inferno is extremely difficult, but it was designed to be that way. It's so much better than the game being too easy and boring.

- the game being irrevocably broken,

No, the game's great. It's extremely polished -- better than D2 ever was even after years of patches.

- accounts being hacked,

Just the usual hacks on people not careful with usernames and passwords. Use an authenticator, if you're worried about it. So far, Blizzard's servers have been secure.

- followers being useless,

The followers are great. I don't know who's saying this one. They provide lots of aura and cc options and a modest amount of damage.

- the failure of online play

Other than a few hickups, the servers have been quite stable compared to D2.

- programming shortcuts that lead to scamming,
- the pronouncement that duping has begun and the solution is to cut a continent worth of connections

This was unfortunate, but it also shows that Blizzard is taking the situation seriously and are going to prevent the mass duping we saw in D2.

- the graphics being less than expected

The graphics are fine. I don't know who's saying this one. I like the overall look and feel of the game. Maybe someone was looking for something beyond the 2 1/2 D graphics, but part of the goal was to allow the game to run smoothly even on legacy systems. They seem to have been successful.

- the skill choices limiting alt/personal tinkering in playstyle

Nope. There are tons of choices. The "builds" are based around the fact that you have to choose only 6 active and 3 passive skills out of dozens of skill/rune combinations. It's a truly genius system. There are tons of alt variations that are possible between skills choices and the open availability of being able to equip most any item or weapon on any character.

The only reason people think that alts are limited at the moment is simply that people are still trying to figure out how to beat Inferno mode at the moment, so people are still focused on their main characters. As people get better gear and the upcoming nerfs to Inferno (hopefully not too harsh) come in to play, I expect people to start working on more alt characters.

I haven't heard anyone say they regret buying the game, nor have I heard anyone say that it's been great to play/has a great story, and many of the headaches seem to be the same issues that kept me away from battle.net play in Diablo II. Of course, I'm the sort who played a few classes through the end of nightmare in LoD and called that sufficient.

Am missing out on something great, or should I be content that deciding to save the money was the right way to go?

Yes, you're missing out. The game is incredibly fun. Remember, people who enjoy the game spend their time playing it. Those who don't, spend their time on boards complaining.

[FoxBat]

I'm enjoying the game so far, but frankly I think Blizzard screwed up. Challenging, active combat to farm gear so you can play the AH is a very different game than Diablo 2. Most farmers want things easier and/or LoD style unique showers, most challenge types don't want to farm, both of them would rather find more items than grind gold to buy them. For now I'm personally happy that I can jump into a public multiplayer game and fight for my life as a melee toon without having to write some mod that tried to achieve the same effect, but I am under no illusion that this is what the majority wants.

Progression being item-based also means that it is basically null after you get your first toon through act 4 inferno and can farm up inferno gear. It may come down to a small trickle of cash from the RMAH being what motivates long-term farmers. On the other hand you can play no-twink but that's just a painful amount of farming to progress compared to trading on the AH. Maybe that will change some with the 1.03 drops. Either way though if you don't like the endgame, as mentioned there's not a ton of incentive to roll more than one of each class, so there isn't much else without forcing yourself a little.

It really depends on how you value your $60. For any Diablo fan I think the game is worth a few playthroughs, it's a fun if campy resolution to the story, a hollywood rollercoaster that does a great job of making you feel like a badass. YMMV on Inferno and long-term though.

[Brascait]

Am missing out on something great, or should I be content that deciding to save the money was the right way to go?

I bought two copies of D3 so that my wife and I could play together. We've played about 20 hours together and I've played an additional 80 hours on my own. I have two characters in Hell difficulty and have yet to see Inferno. I have loved it! I don't regret spending $120 on D3. The gameplay is fun, the graphics are great (I really don't understand why people say otherwise), and I've felt that I've had great variety between classes and skill sets within the classes. Overall it's a great game, but I agree that it could be a lot better. I personally think that D2 + Median XL makes for a better overall game, but I'm happy with D3.

If you're really that worried about it you could always wait 1-3 years for the first expansion. By then it will be even more polished and perhaps you'll also have a better computer. If not, enjoy Torchlight 2 or any of the myriad other Diablo-style games coming out. Happy gaming!

[NuurAbSaal]

I haven't heard anyone say that it's been great to play

It's been great to play. It will continue to be so (for me) for many, many weeks at least.

take care
Tarabulus

[FireIceTalon]

The game is outstanding until you get to Inferno, then it becomes a pure cheese-fest designed to shit on the player in every way possible. Not fun.

[Archon_Wing]

Yes and no. It's a fun game, but if you have to shell out money to upgrade your comp, I can't say you're missing much.

[TheDragoon]

I think Diablo 3 is very fun! Personally, I think it is a well polished, updated, more varied version of Diablo 2. Playing solo can be fun but playing with friends is a blast! The randomized dungeons and events are a lot of fun and even with significant playing over a couple weeks, there is still plenty that I haven't seen.

I do wonder if it will have the staying power of Diablo 2 simply because the bar has been raised by games (like World of Warcraft) that are constantly churning out content whereas this one is likely to stay more-or-less fixed until an expansion pack. If you approach Diablo 3 with the mindset that many people bring to WoW (level as quickly as possible so you can participate in the end game) you might be somewhat disappointed when you get the end game and it's ok, but not really as engaging as something like WoW. This game is definitely more about the journey to that level and then with some very difficult challenges once you get there to make sure there is always some progression left to go.

Personally, I am very happy with it and I think it will keep me entertained for quite a while!

[Tal]

My question is whether I made the right decision by not buying Diablo III?

I haven't heard anyone say they regret buying the game, nor have I heard anyone say that it's been great to play/has a great story, and many of the headaches seem to be the same issues that kept me away from battle.net play in Diablo II. Of course, I'm the sort who played a few classes through the end of nightmare in LoD and called that sufficient.

Am missing out on something great, or should I be content that deciding to save the money was the right way to go?

I can't answer these questions for you but I can see (and this is coming from a WoW player that has done tons of grinding in that game) that D3 seems to be a grindfest.

My caveat - I don't have a capped character, nor have I seen Inferno difficulty. I tend to solo quite a bit because I need frequent afks. The game for me can be fun with friends, but can turn into a nightmare when solo.

I don't buy off the Auction House because I always get disconnected from the servers and have difficulty logging back in. I hate the idea of having to run parts of the previous act to gear up sufficiently to not be frustrated in the following act. I hate the idea that I've cleared an entire map, found every side dungeon and special mob to kill and generally only get gold for my troubles. The gear I need just doesn't seem to drop for me (all of my best gear has come from being in groups with Quark, TD and Pesmerga). An example from my most recent game. We came up against a molten/mortar with another amazingly ugly modifier. I died three times just trying to tank for TD (and later Quark) and I got a rare two handed barb weapon...with 100 intelligence and 60 dexterity.

Right now I find that I just don't tend to log in on my highest character because I don't find the rewards to match the frustration of the fight. It may be that I'm not a good player (this is where someone jumps in to tell me to l2p) but if the carrot I'm receiving is moldy and gross, I'm gonna go with a game that feeds that hunger. So it's back to WoW more for me.

[BellaStrega]

I do think that they could have done with a bit more of a journey to the level cap, with somewhat longer acts. But I mostly agree with TheDragoon.

Right now I have one character in Inferno and a second nearly in Inferno. I'm staying in Act I until patch 1.03 comes out and rebalances the difficulty to make Act II and later less of a painful transition. But my point is that I'm having fun with my monk in Act I. I just hope I can have fun in Act II after the patch.

[Maitre]

I can't answer these questions for you but I can see (and this is coming from a WoW player that has done tons of grinding in that game) that D3 seems to be a grindfest.

See, that's the sort of thing that I find a waste of my time. Grinding through packs of enemies of which I've already defeated an act's worth is not what I consider fun. Progress into different terain, different enemy combinations requiring different approaches is what I like.

wdk1: really convincing argument. That's it sign me up...

LavCat: momentary grin on novelty items, but honestly, not a positive to me.

Brascait: Your habit of playing with your wife sounds like a great thing, but my wife is not interested in gaming in the least, so I don't think that particular option is open to me.

Here's my other question: is this the sort of game that you can play 30-40 minutes at a time (with sessions seperated by 4 to 5 days)? I simply don't have the time to jump into long gaming sessions.

[Tal]

Here's my other question: is this the sort of game that you can play 30-40 minutes at a time (with sessions seperated by 4 to 5 days)? I simply don't have the time to jump into long gaming sessions.

Yes - very easily.

[Kevin]

You can read my huge wall o text about why I went with hardcore vs softcore on this game the topic headings I use point out some of the major points of the game I'll touch some other stuff here.

Playing hardcore adds some replayability that softcore won't have (because a toon dies and you have to start over) which means that it extends the "journey" phase of the game which I like so I'm a bit of different perspective.

In short though the game should still provide 100+ hours of good entertainment playing each the classes through the end of hell difficulty without any real need to grind at all and with challenges increasing as you progress difficulty due to the new unique affix combinations that champion and unique mobs get, which I find a ton of fun. Yes you will see the same basic content 3 times with each class, but the scaling of difficulty is mostly with the champs/uniques and they way they scale is by having more affixes which makes how each pack works a unique and different challenge. Likely you can also do Act I of Inferno for another 4 or 5 hours per class without the need to grind either.

I compare that to games like Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2, both of which I loved, and between the two I'm only at just over 100 hours played (of course I only paid $25 total for them since I waited) that was well worth my money. I've already logged 120 or so hours of D3 all of which I have found very fun, I need to double that to get to the same value point, 4 hours per dollar, and I fully expect to reach and exceed that.

The game feels more like D1 in atmosphere, but plays more like D2 in that you do have the ability to wade in and just destroy packs but can bite off more than you can chew and the real challenge/tactics comes from the random affix sets on the champs/uniques.

If you think you will feel the desire to have to beat Inferno difficulty before the tuning patches are all in place then you will hit frustration and grinds. I don't think it will have the longevity of D2, but I find the gameplay more fun than D2, which I could simply not enjoy playing solo and I can play D3 solo but really love it in multi.

It's not perfect but it easily gives a great return on the entertainment dollar in my opinion.

[Bolty]

Gnollguy hits it right on the head. You'll get plenty of enjoyment out of the game. Wait for the Inferno nerfs to come in before going there or you'll get burned out hard. If you have to upgrade your computer to play it, though, I'm not sure if that would be worth it. Also, Diablo games by nature are a lot more fun with friends (and Lurkers!). Get some to buy it with you!

[Treesh]

I can't answer these questions for you but I can see (and this is coming from a WoW player that has done tons of grinding in that game) that D3 seems to be a grindfest.

My caveat - I don't have a capped character, nor have I seen Inferno difficulty. I tend to solo quite a bit because I need frequent afks. The game for me can be fun with friends, but can turn into a nightmare when solo.

I don't buy off the Auction House because I always get disconnected from the servers and have difficulty logging back in. I hate the idea of having to run parts of the previous act to gear up sufficiently to not be frustrated in the following act. I hate the idea that I've cleared an entire map, found every side dungeon and special mob to kill and generally only get gold for my troubles. The gear I need just doesn't seem to drop for me (all of my best gear has come from being in groups with Quark, TD and Pesmerga). An example from my most recent game. We came up against a molten/mortar with another amazingly ugly modifier. I died three times just trying to tank for TD (and later Quark) and I got a rare two handed barb weapon...with 100 intelligence and 60 dexterity.

Right now I find that I just don't tend to log in on my highest character because I don't find the rewards to match the frustration of the fight. It may be that I'm not a good player (this is where someone jumps in to tell me to l2p) but if the carrot I'm receiving is moldy and gross, I'm gonna go with a game that feeds that hunger. So it's back to WoW more for me.

I never had to go back an act to farm. I hopped right in from act4 hell to act 1 inferno and have to farm the beginning of act 1 inferno a little, but every time I've run through the beginning I've gotten another upgrade, from drops. Now, I did get some good deals on the AH, but I haven't sunk nearly as much into it as other people have and not nearly the time. So, yes, there is a little grind in inferno, but MUCH less than WoW ever was for me.

[kandrathe]

Am missing out on something great...

I think it was worth the investment. It's not perfect, but don't listen only to the sour grapes. If you liked to play D1, or D2, then you'll enjoy D3 --- but, before you buy it, find a friend who has it and try it for an hour or so at their house first.

My disappointment is only in that it could have been epic, but what they built was a modernized Diablo II. They've done a superb job in remaking that game. It is fun to play, so that part is covered.

I'm just comparing it to other recent game releases like Mass Effect 3, Skyrim, SWTOR, Max Payne 3, etc... I feel the same way when they remake old movies... I usually ask why we needed a new version. Sometimes the new version is better, but it's still covering the same old ground.