08-20-2006, 12:15 PM
Some of those are pretty nutty. And as much as I'd like to see Rust Storm run as frequently as possible, I don't think that's really all that possible. The full-on Rust Storm, IE, the one that actually does something, only seems to be able to run by turning off the servers.
And I can't believe no one else wants to get the lying character screen fixed. They just want to add more columns for it to be wrong about.
Anyone else find it odd that it is the general assumption that a one dollar-ish monthly fee would remove a large quantity of the players who are generally denounced as eBayers that shell out hundreds for items?
Here's my viable want list:
Do SOMETHING about the runewords and their insanity. Last Wish is utterly ridiculous. There is no way that should ever legitimately exist. Make runes more common. Make runewords that use actual findable runes. Do SOMETHING. Since Lord of Destruction was released, I've found an Ohm and a Zod. Assuming a one-for-one trade of the so-called high runes, this is not enough to make quite a few of those added in 1.10. And lest we forget, we are supposed to find all of these in a single ladder season.
Decrease the power on...just about everything that is commonly used. Sounds a bit whiny, I know, but I think this is a pretty solid suggestion. Actually, eliminating oskills and aurae-on-equip would go a LOOOONG way toward fixing this. These are probably the worst offenders in this poor, tired game's balance. Conviction is unfair on Sorceresses and Lightning Amazons (PvM). Enigma aside, the others really aren't THAT overpowered. Nothing else grants that kind of destructive capability. I have mixed feelings on Enigma. I do like teleporting on some of my other casters, but I feel it creates overpowered niche characters (IE, Blessed Hammer paladin). So what if we made it...suck. Negative armor bonus? More so? I don't know. Do SOMETHING so it isn't an automatic choice. Make it a Gotterdamerung item. Making Barbarians playable again as more than walking Battle Orders would be pretty cool, too. We don't really need to go back to the 1.01 days of everyone plays the blurry lancer, but maybe seeing one or two that do more than yell at the party would be good.
Fix the Lying Character Screen.
Amazingly not listed, and yet extremely simple and useful is just changing the textual color display on runes. Third party programs offer it. Mods offer it. And it really doesn't effect gameplay at all beyond a minor convenience. It will save people from needing laser surgery for another year or two, desperately searching all of those white letters, only to find a Rune Bow right next to a Vortex Shield.
And last, but certainly not least PLEASE don't add anything else overpowered to the game. I've had all of the Annihili, Hellfire Torches, and stupid runewords I can handle without vomiting. Uber Tristram was a very cool idea. Hellfire Torch was not. Characters were already powerful enough. The game certainly does not need to be any easier. Harder areas are good; better rewards are not, unless they are necessary to complete even harder areas (and preferably equippable ONLY in said areas).
I don't think those are all that much to ask for. I know some of the stuff I posted earlier was really out there, but those three seem not only entirely feasible, but like they would help the game's longevity. Right now, I'm well aware that I have no realistic chance of ever creating an Enigma. Increase the rune drops, and I might have something to work for. Bad example, since I want Enigma removed, but you get the idea.
Something should PROBABLY also be done about the synergies, but as I'm not a programmer nor a game designer, I'm not sure what it is. I'm sure eliminating them would cause a mass outcry, invalidate whole accounts full of characters and whatnot. It therefore is probably not in Blizzard's best interest, but I'm still not sure what it. But synergies as we know them are pretty dumb.
Another would be nice, but is not necessarily necessary is including some more information. Why should we have to plumb the internet to find out the NextDelay on Poison Nova. And even if we do, it doesn't really help us, because that means nothing to the guy standing next to me spamming it. A little bit of information about our own skills would be pretty rockin'.
I'd also like to address the absurdity of a few of those suggestions.
Allowing skills to be reset completely eliminates any balance in Sorceresses, even beyond what Infinity does. Cold immunes? Let's open a portal, head back to town, and click in a hundred for Meteor and friends. Sorry folks, this one's just stupid.
Blessed Hammer. Damage reduction isn't the answer. Howsabout fixing the resistance/immunity penetration? Blessed Hammer, without that, is nowhere near as powerful as Blizzard (even with casting delay) and is harder to aim, especially if we take out/make teleport unplayable on Paladins.
Holy Shield. I find this is actually more powerful than Blessed Hammer. This skill is completely stupid right now. It makes people indestructible. I might even go so far as to say it is the single most overpowered skill, but I think either Teleport or Conviction hold that slot.
Dagger mastery for Barbarians? Not much sense there. Howsabout for Necromancers? Make the dagger guy viable instead of just fun.
Battle Cry/War Cry are VERY powerful right now. Increasing the radius would be rather...unbalanced. With some increased speed, teleport, and/or Taunt, it is possible to keep literally several screens worth of monsters stunned at once right now. Be nice if they tried playing the game instead of getting Blizzard to make the characters play it for them.
Not sure what the deal on Spirit of Barbs is. Why is that one particular skill mentioned? How many people put points into increased stamina? Blaze? Hunger? Redemption? Terror? Why Spirit of Barbs? Not that I'm saying all of those should be powered up. While it would be nice to be able to utilize all skills without playing a variant, it may also be necessary to have "bad" skills so the good ones are good. Skill X is only "good" as long as there isn't something better.
I don't think both genders for all classes are possible unless Blizzard starts taking in fan art or for some reason has them unreleased on file already. Cool idea, but not very feasible, considering how many animations they all have to go through.
Changing the way Uber Diablo spawns seems pretty solid as well. The current system is both monopolistic and highly exploitable. I'm not sure what fixes this, though. While selling a unique item was certainly a cool idea in a role-playing sense, and would have worked wonders on the economy if duplication wasn't rampant, it has some practical issues. Perhaps it would be truer to the spirit of the game if the spawn were actually random? Still sounds exploitable, though, unless there is a way to do it randomly gamewise instead of serverwise. Otherwise those with multiple accounts and bots and whatnot will just camp games for weeks and still monopolize the Annihili. The randomness via games would also have to occur at random intervals, or bots still win. If it's upon joining, it becomes whoever makes games the fastest. If the spawn occurs after X minutes, that's still a programmable goal. I'm not sure how realistic any of this is, but the current system is pretty fractured.
And I can't believe no one else wants to get the lying character screen fixed. They just want to add more columns for it to be wrong about.
Anyone else find it odd that it is the general assumption that a one dollar-ish monthly fee would remove a large quantity of the players who are generally denounced as eBayers that shell out hundreds for items?
Here's my viable want list:
Do SOMETHING about the runewords and their insanity. Last Wish is utterly ridiculous. There is no way that should ever legitimately exist. Make runes more common. Make runewords that use actual findable runes. Do SOMETHING. Since Lord of Destruction was released, I've found an Ohm and a Zod. Assuming a one-for-one trade of the so-called high runes, this is not enough to make quite a few of those added in 1.10. And lest we forget, we are supposed to find all of these in a single ladder season.
Decrease the power on...just about everything that is commonly used. Sounds a bit whiny, I know, but I think this is a pretty solid suggestion. Actually, eliminating oskills and aurae-on-equip would go a LOOOONG way toward fixing this. These are probably the worst offenders in this poor, tired game's balance. Conviction is unfair on Sorceresses and Lightning Amazons (PvM). Enigma aside, the others really aren't THAT overpowered. Nothing else grants that kind of destructive capability. I have mixed feelings on Enigma. I do like teleporting on some of my other casters, but I feel it creates overpowered niche characters (IE, Blessed Hammer paladin). So what if we made it...suck. Negative armor bonus? More so? I don't know. Do SOMETHING so it isn't an automatic choice. Make it a Gotterdamerung item. Making Barbarians playable again as more than walking Battle Orders would be pretty cool, too. We don't really need to go back to the 1.01 days of everyone plays the blurry lancer, but maybe seeing one or two that do more than yell at the party would be good.
Fix the Lying Character Screen.
Amazingly not listed, and yet extremely simple and useful is just changing the textual color display on runes. Third party programs offer it. Mods offer it. And it really doesn't effect gameplay at all beyond a minor convenience. It will save people from needing laser surgery for another year or two, desperately searching all of those white letters, only to find a Rune Bow right next to a Vortex Shield.
And last, but certainly not least PLEASE don't add anything else overpowered to the game. I've had all of the Annihili, Hellfire Torches, and stupid runewords I can handle without vomiting. Uber Tristram was a very cool idea. Hellfire Torch was not. Characters were already powerful enough. The game certainly does not need to be any easier. Harder areas are good; better rewards are not, unless they are necessary to complete even harder areas (and preferably equippable ONLY in said areas).
I don't think those are all that much to ask for. I know some of the stuff I posted earlier was really out there, but those three seem not only entirely feasible, but like they would help the game's longevity. Right now, I'm well aware that I have no realistic chance of ever creating an Enigma. Increase the rune drops, and I might have something to work for. Bad example, since I want Enigma removed, but you get the idea.
Something should PROBABLY also be done about the synergies, but as I'm not a programmer nor a game designer, I'm not sure what it is. I'm sure eliminating them would cause a mass outcry, invalidate whole accounts full of characters and whatnot. It therefore is probably not in Blizzard's best interest, but I'm still not sure what it. But synergies as we know them are pretty dumb.
Another would be nice, but is not necessarily necessary is including some more information. Why should we have to plumb the internet to find out the NextDelay on Poison Nova. And even if we do, it doesn't really help us, because that means nothing to the guy standing next to me spamming it. A little bit of information about our own skills would be pretty rockin'.
I'd also like to address the absurdity of a few of those suggestions.
Allowing skills to be reset completely eliminates any balance in Sorceresses, even beyond what Infinity does. Cold immunes? Let's open a portal, head back to town, and click in a hundred for Meteor and friends. Sorry folks, this one's just stupid.
Blessed Hammer. Damage reduction isn't the answer. Howsabout fixing the resistance/immunity penetration? Blessed Hammer, without that, is nowhere near as powerful as Blizzard (even with casting delay) and is harder to aim, especially if we take out/make teleport unplayable on Paladins.
Holy Shield. I find this is actually more powerful than Blessed Hammer. This skill is completely stupid right now. It makes people indestructible. I might even go so far as to say it is the single most overpowered skill, but I think either Teleport or Conviction hold that slot.
Dagger mastery for Barbarians? Not much sense there. Howsabout for Necromancers? Make the dagger guy viable instead of just fun.
Battle Cry/War Cry are VERY powerful right now. Increasing the radius would be rather...unbalanced. With some increased speed, teleport, and/or Taunt, it is possible to keep literally several screens worth of monsters stunned at once right now. Be nice if they tried playing the game instead of getting Blizzard to make the characters play it for them.
Not sure what the deal on Spirit of Barbs is. Why is that one particular skill mentioned? How many people put points into increased stamina? Blaze? Hunger? Redemption? Terror? Why Spirit of Barbs? Not that I'm saying all of those should be powered up. While it would be nice to be able to utilize all skills without playing a variant, it may also be necessary to have "bad" skills so the good ones are good. Skill X is only "good" as long as there isn't something better.
I don't think both genders for all classes are possible unless Blizzard starts taking in fan art or for some reason has them unreleased on file already. Cool idea, but not very feasible, considering how many animations they all have to go through.
Changing the way Uber Diablo spawns seems pretty solid as well. The current system is both monopolistic and highly exploitable. I'm not sure what fixes this, though. While selling a unique item was certainly a cool idea in a role-playing sense, and would have worked wonders on the economy if duplication wasn't rampant, it has some practical issues. Perhaps it would be truer to the spirit of the game if the spawn were actually random? Still sounds exploitable, though, unless there is a way to do it randomly gamewise instead of serverwise. Otherwise those with multiple accounts and bots and whatnot will just camp games for weeks and still monopolize the Annihili. The randomness via games would also have to occur at random intervals, or bots still win. If it's upon joining, it becomes whoever makes games the fastest. If the spawn occurs after X minutes, that's still a programmable goal. I'm not sure how realistic any of this is, but the current system is pretty fractured.