06-13-2012, 09:07 PM
I think the main issue with item drops is not going to be properly addressed in 1.0.3.
The game is heavily gear dependent, far more than previous Diablo games. You either have the specific gear needed to progress, or you need to farm for that gear; there is no middle ground. OK, fair enough, that alone is not an issue. The big issue is that the gear needed to progress is absurdly rare. Items that drop can, and usually will, be far lower than your level. That means the majority of drops are absolutely useless. When a level-appropriate item does drop, you then have the usual randomness against you as to whether it is (a) any good, and (b) useful to your character. Now, even that should not be an issue, as the Blacksmith is supposed to convert items useless to your character into items that are useful. However, the first issue (most items are really low level) means that you cannot get the resources required for crafting.
Blizzard's solution? Somewhat increase the odds of level-appropriate gear in a quarter of the game.
*facepalm*
They have tuned the game so that levels are fairly predictable. You can have a pretty good guess at what level someone will be when they enter any given Act/difficulty. Is it that hard to ensure the gear that drops is level-appropriate? There are still a million factors against you, so most items drops will still not be what you are looking for, but at least the game does not feel rigged against you. In Diablo, potentially something fantastic could drop in any zone/difficulty (though the best items tended to be later in the game). In Diablo II, when you went up a difficulty you had good odds of getting level-appropriate drops, and gambling was an easy way to fill the gap. The drop problems only feel intentional: there is no way you could fail to realise this would cause the players issues!
The game is heavily gear dependent, far more than previous Diablo games. You either have the specific gear needed to progress, or you need to farm for that gear; there is no middle ground. OK, fair enough, that alone is not an issue. The big issue is that the gear needed to progress is absurdly rare. Items that drop can, and usually will, be far lower than your level. That means the majority of drops are absolutely useless. When a level-appropriate item does drop, you then have the usual randomness against you as to whether it is (a) any good, and (b) useful to your character. Now, even that should not be an issue, as the Blacksmith is supposed to convert items useless to your character into items that are useful. However, the first issue (most items are really low level) means that you cannot get the resources required for crafting.
Blizzard's solution? Somewhat increase the odds of level-appropriate gear in a quarter of the game.
*facepalm*
They have tuned the game so that levels are fairly predictable. You can have a pretty good guess at what level someone will be when they enter any given Act/difficulty. Is it that hard to ensure the gear that drops is level-appropriate? There are still a million factors against you, so most items drops will still not be what you are looking for, but at least the game does not feel rigged against you. In Diablo, potentially something fantastic could drop in any zone/difficulty (though the best items tended to be later in the game). In Diablo II, when you went up a difficulty you had good odds of getting level-appropriate drops, and gambling was an easy way to fill the gap. The drop problems only feel intentional: there is no way you could fail to realise this would cause the players issues!
May the wind pick up your heels and your sword strike true.