11-17-2004, 01:40 AM
We've seen some of Sanctuary, and a little of Hell, but what about Heaven? I'd like to see ventures into Heaven. However, I want to be able to choose: defend it, or be the one laying siege? I'd like my actions to actually have an effect on the world. For instance, if I started out as a demon, I'd like to have my first few quests in Hell, and then take out the Pandemonium Fortress or other such outpost, and then have that be a base of operations to enter Sanctuary. However, in the middle of a mission later on, have some minion/voice in head tell you that the Pandemium Fortress is about to be retaken, and they need reinforcements. So you'd have to decide: "Am I strong enough to take out this puny human outpost and gather an army of more unscrupulous humans to resteal the Fortress, but risk being cut off from the demonic world, or go back immediately?"
On the side of Heaven, what ruling structure would it have? A powerful god? A council of angels? Anarchy? Would the angels really all be good (with the notable exceptions of Izual), or would there be many shades of 'white' amongst them? Perhaps have you as a character influence their decisions? Are they looking out for our own good, or do they want to conquer us as well (a la Deus Ex style conspiracy, only maybe there is no conspiracy, just 'hints' toward in the form of corrupted angels/demons in disguise?)
For humans, do the people band together, or resort to petty squabbles? Open warfare? Double dealing? You discover that one group of humans has been making deals to both demons and angels; what do you do? Expose them, to weed out the traitors, or reprimand them in private (and possibly threaten them), to avoid internal strife?
Demons are even more interesting: there are two (or more) factions you must choose from (or go against them both, or pretend to be with both of them, or really be with both of them and just side with whomever's winning, and hope the victor doesn't take notice [which would be harder to do if you dominated the battlefield]). On the one hand, there's Baal, Diablo, and Mephisto, banished to Hell. They can't enter sanctuary, so they devote their energies to commanding the war directly against heaven, and attempting to control their power hungry minions. On the other hand, there's Azmodan and Belial as the masterminds, with Andariel and Duriel possibly siding with them. They command the battle for Earth.
I would like to see a return of everyone's favorite characters from D1 and D2, like Farnham, and Gheed. Farnham would try to discover his courage (or maybe just stay drunk), while Gheed tries to profit by selling to the highest bidder. Some merchants would refuse to talk to a character strongly affiliated with the other side, and others would attack on sight.
I would like a few types of character classes, with different races in each class, such as an Orc Warrior, a Demonic (not sure which type would work, some sort of Imp perhaps?) Spy, an Elven Mage, or perhaps Human 'Diplomat' (by which I mean one who attempts to subjugate the foes without ever fighting them, by turning them on themselves [AI altering things would be this guy's specialty]).
For spells, I'd like a mix of D1 style and D2 style, in that there would be a few "tabs", but there would be one or two that everyone has access to, the more basic, but widely useful skills (not Hydra or Raise Skeleton type spells). Make it so that different skills actually have uses in different times, lower level skills (if there is a level requirement, I'm not sure how I would want skills to be gained) would do a lot less damage, sure, but they would have some neat effects, like giving a low level lightning spell do less damage, but have a chance of paralyzing (slow them down, etc).
Return most of the monsters from the past two games, but alter them slightly (ie: not the same, so anything remotely resembling a Stygian Doll should do less exploding damage!), especially the cool monsters like the Horned Demons (hello? We'll be doing sieges in this game, how could you not have a Horned Demon?). I'd also like a greater importance on siege weapons, and make them better than the stupid catapolts! I want a mobile tower with archers/flamethrower imps on top that moves over to your castle, a real balista on the castle walls, hidden spiked pits, moats, drawbridge, tactical retreat AI (but not too good, that would just get annoying), and battle ruses. "Pretend to lose and retreat, then lure them into this forest covered in hay so we can burn them."
Horses, riding wolves, and especially Dragons (with a +50% weakness to arrows, of course).
In hardcore, after the character dies, give them one more chance as an undead type creature. What creature the character turns into depends on race, and how good/evil he/she is (zombie, ghost [physical immune! But weak against magic based attacks], skeleton, etc).
Make more of the music more like the music in Diablo, less like Diablo 2. Much more immersive.
And most importantly, have Reziarfg in the Secret Chicken Level beating Cain with the candlestick.
On the side of Heaven, what ruling structure would it have? A powerful god? A council of angels? Anarchy? Would the angels really all be good (with the notable exceptions of Izual), or would there be many shades of 'white' amongst them? Perhaps have you as a character influence their decisions? Are they looking out for our own good, or do they want to conquer us as well (a la Deus Ex style conspiracy, only maybe there is no conspiracy, just 'hints' toward in the form of corrupted angels/demons in disguise?)
For humans, do the people band together, or resort to petty squabbles? Open warfare? Double dealing? You discover that one group of humans has been making deals to both demons and angels; what do you do? Expose them, to weed out the traitors, or reprimand them in private (and possibly threaten them), to avoid internal strife?
Demons are even more interesting: there are two (or more) factions you must choose from (or go against them both, or pretend to be with both of them, or really be with both of them and just side with whomever's winning, and hope the victor doesn't take notice [which would be harder to do if you dominated the battlefield]). On the one hand, there's Baal, Diablo, and Mephisto, banished to Hell. They can't enter sanctuary, so they devote their energies to commanding the war directly against heaven, and attempting to control their power hungry minions. On the other hand, there's Azmodan and Belial as the masterminds, with Andariel and Duriel possibly siding with them. They command the battle for Earth.
I would like to see a return of everyone's favorite characters from D1 and D2, like Farnham, and Gheed. Farnham would try to discover his courage (or maybe just stay drunk), while Gheed tries to profit by selling to the highest bidder. Some merchants would refuse to talk to a character strongly affiliated with the other side, and others would attack on sight.
I would like a few types of character classes, with different races in each class, such as an Orc Warrior, a Demonic (not sure which type would work, some sort of Imp perhaps?) Spy, an Elven Mage, or perhaps Human 'Diplomat' (by which I mean one who attempts to subjugate the foes without ever fighting them, by turning them on themselves [AI altering things would be this guy's specialty]).
For spells, I'd like a mix of D1 style and D2 style, in that there would be a few "tabs", but there would be one or two that everyone has access to, the more basic, but widely useful skills (not Hydra or Raise Skeleton type spells). Make it so that different skills actually have uses in different times, lower level skills (if there is a level requirement, I'm not sure how I would want skills to be gained) would do a lot less damage, sure, but they would have some neat effects, like giving a low level lightning spell do less damage, but have a chance of paralyzing (slow them down, etc).
Return most of the monsters from the past two games, but alter them slightly (ie: not the same, so anything remotely resembling a Stygian Doll should do less exploding damage!), especially the cool monsters like the Horned Demons (hello? We'll be doing sieges in this game, how could you not have a Horned Demon?). I'd also like a greater importance on siege weapons, and make them better than the stupid catapolts! I want a mobile tower with archers/flamethrower imps on top that moves over to your castle, a real balista on the castle walls, hidden spiked pits, moats, drawbridge, tactical retreat AI (but not too good, that would just get annoying), and battle ruses. "Pretend to lose and retreat, then lure them into this forest covered in hay so we can burn them."
Horses, riding wolves, and especially Dragons (with a +50% weakness to arrows, of course).
In hardcore, after the character dies, give them one more chance as an undead type creature. What creature the character turns into depends on race, and how good/evil he/she is (zombie, ghost [physical immune! But weak against magic based attacks], skeleton, etc).
Make more of the music more like the music in Diablo, less like Diablo 2. Much more immersive.
And most importantly, have Reziarfg in the Secret Chicken Level beating Cain with the candlestick.