Diablo III Wild Speculation and Rumor Mongering Abounds

[Sheepherder]

Hell, we're going to party like it's 999.

Plate armour didn't make a major appearance on the battlefield until 1200-ish. 

It would be cooler if it was an automatic crossbow, that's actually fairly doable mechanically or with pneumatics.

[Malakili]

Sigh. Even Blizzard can't help themselves from fucking over an IP with dumbass PvP elements like 'arenas'

To be fair the lead developer just said that they weren't balancing the game for them, and that they weren't intended to be esports, just a fun side game.

Which will go right out the window the instant it's determined that Arenas have crossed a certain threshold of popularity, and the nerfbat will come out a-swinging for Arena play.

Maybe, but I would be a little surprised.  Diablo has never had a following because of PvP, and I don't see much of a reason to add competitive PvP to it.

[MrHat]

10 min gameplay video

I snagged the 19 min gameplay video from the press release.

It made me take back anything negative I was going to say.  The game looks like diablo 3.  Lots of enemies flying at you all the time, bosses in the mix, crazy amounts of abilities getting cast around.  Visceral feeling to most of them too.  And the sound was awesome-o.

Hell, even the arena looked fun.

My only complaint was that the PC's weren't...distinct enough and that there didn't seem to be a violent crowd cheering on the arena.

Yes.  My complaints were not enough bright colors and arena didn't fit with the lore.

[Samwise]

I just looked up the Demon Hunter vid.  What happened to Blizzard's tradition of making awesome cinematics?   

[Ironwood]

The monk one is worse.  Seems to be done entirely within the game engine.

Which I suspect is on purpose.

She sounded like Claudia Black though.  Which was enough to give me wood.

[SurfD]

Err, how the fuck would someone use a crossbow in each hand? Is an invisible wizard cocking each one for you after each shot?

Seriously, why two? This is not 1999.

Why not ask how she can shoot a massive spread of missiles out of a single crossbow while your at it?  Or how about where in her skimpy outfit she keeps the multiple tonnes of metal traps she would toss out in the course of clearing a dungeon?  Do you hate fun or something?

[Samprimary]

That's me. I hate fun.

[Fabricated]

10 min gameplay video

look forward to playing this in 2025 when it gets released.

[MrHat]

Shared stash confirmed amongst characters.

Hardcore Arenas - you die, you die.  (Awesome)

1000 beta keys to be given out randomly amongst Tenacious D attendees.

[Merusk]

Err, how the fuck would someone use a crossbow in each hand? Is an invisible wizard cocking each one for you after each shot?

Seriously, why two? This is not 1999.

That was you in the D3 Q&A at Blizzcon, wasn't it.

Same exact question and the board and room roundly mocked the guy for it.

[Lantyssa]

Mocked the guy asking why two, or mocked the dev for having two?

[Arrrgh]

My thought was that it would be easier to shoot your magical self cocking crossbows if the bows were vertical. You could hold your hands closer together.

[Shrike]

She sounded like Claudia Black though.  Which was enough to give me wood.

If only...

Trying to think of an appropriate Gheed remark, but it's been too long since I've played D2. The only thing that springs to mind is whatsherface calling him a pig. 

[kildorn]

To be fair with the skills we could play with in game: you'll never use dual one handed crossbows (yes, they bother me. One of the two handed crossbow concept models at least has a magazine..), you will use the slowest meanest crossbow you can find, because all the skills besides traps are %of weapon damage based. So a 2h crossbow >>>> longbow >>>>>>>>>> mini crossbows, since the skill cooldown/mana cost has nothing to do with weapon speed.

I will say, runes make this game SO much better, which is saying a lot since the game was awesome to start with. Only one rune I didn't like, and that one is likely due for changes (the blue rune in any mage skill just reduced mana costs. Every other rune in a mage skill increased awesome by 20%)

[Ironwood]

What ?

[Malakili]

What ?

I think he is saying that cast speed for skills is unrelated to weapon speed, so it always makes sense to use the slowest hardest hitting weapon possible.   I think WoW got around this using some kind of normalization (which is good in my opinion, i like more viable options).   Same thing in Torchlight actually (use slow weapons, but stack +cast speed items to maximize dps).

So, presumably dual wield hand crossbows means you are using 2 fast weapons, which make worse use of abilities that are based on % of weapon damage.

[Sjofn]

I thought the stilettos on the Demon Hunter were a bit much.

No fucking kidding. I was hoping that in game they wouldn't be as obvious, but they are, and they look ridiculous. Clearly she taps into the DARK MAJICKS to fight in those things without snapping her ankle.

[Furiously]

Why must you hate fan service and pandering? (and that is to everyone!)

[Ingmar]

1000 beta keys to be given out randomly amongst Tenacious DBlizzcon attendees.

Fixed. They have no way of knowing who happened to be sitting in that part of the hall. The keys are going to be randomly assigned to people who bought tickets.

[Jimbo]

Dang...must resist urge to reinstall and fire up my Zoo keeper!

It looks like a cross between the amazon and the assassin.  Those were my other 2 favorite classes.  Man, Blizzard is getting more of my money.

[Merusk]

Mocked the guy asking why two, or mocked the dev for having two?

Mocked the guy who asked. 

[Murgos]

I thought the stilettos on the Demon Hunter were a bit much.

No fucking kidding. I was hoping that in game they wouldn't be as obvious, but they are, and they look ridiculous. Clearly she taps into the DARK MAJICKS to fight in those things without snapping her ankle.

So far the games biggest gripes are stiletto heels, double crossbows and color palette? Really?  C'mon internet it's like you're not even trying.

[MrHat]

I'd just like to reiterate that if you are a Hardcore character, and you go to PVP in the arena and die...you don't come back.

Hardcore arenas.

No one else is holyshitexcited about that?

[Typhon]

If there was a way to purely level your char via PvP and the game had some sort of graveyard of dead hardcore characters, I would be slightly interested.  Seems like it would be heavily influenced by luck in the 0-30 level brackets (getting good items).

Are there any details about how it works?

[Malakili]

I'd just like to reiterate that if you are a Hardcore character, and you go to PVP in the arena and die...you don't come back.

Hardcore arenas.

No one else is holyshitexcited about that?

Not really, since as far as I can tell it seems like SOMEONE is going to die in every arena match.  So, unless people are going to be willing to spend time getting to a high enough level where PvP is interesting and then be willing to throw it all away, then I can't see this catching on, nor am I excited about it.   And this is coming from someone who does enjoy hardcore mode a lot, I just think the concept of PvP in hardcore mode makes no sense to me.  The entire fun of PvP (in my opinion) is learning it, and if you only get one life, you literally can't learn from your mistakes.

[Sheepherder]

I think he is saying that cast speed for skills is unrelated to weapon speed, so it always makes sense to use the slowest hardest hitting weapon possible.   I think WoW got around this using some kind of normalization (which is good in my opinion, i like more viable options).

The formula for an attack in WoW is:

Code:

attack power / 14 x weapon speed + weapon damage

Way back in the dawn of time, they realized that having the same formula for instant attacks as auto-attacks was fucking insane, because a decrease in speed returned an equal percentage increase in damage done for an attack not actually limited by the speed of the weapon.  So for instant attacks they replaced the speed variable with a constant which is based on weapon type.

I have no clue why they haven't further simplified the system.

[Lakov_Sanite]

I thought the stilettos on the Demon Hunter were a bit much.

No fucking kidding. I was hoping that in game they wouldn't be as obvious, but they are, and they look ridiculous. Clearly she taps into the DARK MAJICKS to fight in those things without snapping her ankle.

Bayonetta did it first?

[Paelos]

No one else is holyshitexcited about that?

FUCK...ARENAS...

Seriously. That is not what Diablo is about at all.

[Malakili]

No one else is holyshitexcited about that?

FUCK...ARENAS...

Seriously. That is not what Diablo is about at all.

This, also.  Anyone interested in Diablo 3 arenas should save themselves some time and check out Bloodline Champions.

[Lantyssa]

Seriously. That is not what Diablo is about at all.

It is now.

[tazelbain]

I am against anything that gets in the way of the true spirit of Diablo, duping Rings of Demonthorn.

[bhodi]

Me and my godly plate of the whale is outta here.

[Lakov_Sanite]

I must be the blizzard fanboy cause I seem to keep defending them but....

Diablo is about hacking swarms of monsters and getting shiny loot. Does this game have that? yes. Does it have things in addition to that? Who the fuck cares.

If you don't like the arena or pvp(I sure won't) don't do it. Unless the game somehow requires pvp it's just something extra to do and I'm fine with extras and might even try it if bored one day.

[Paelos]

I must be the blizzard fanboy cause I seem to keep defending them but....

Diablo is about hacking swarms of monsters and getting shiny loot. Does this game have that? yes. Does it have things in addition to that? Who the fuck cares.

If you don't like the arena or pvp(I sure won't) don't do it. Unless the game somehow requires pvp it's just something extra to do and I'm fine with extras and might even try it if bored one day.

Here's why you don't want it. They will change shit in the game based on it. They will balance shit around it. They will adjust abilities around it. They will put resources into getting it right that could be spent making my shit shine. Also, some dude over there has a hard-on for these arenas and it's he's going to try to jam it down your throat where you like it or not, Kobe-style.

If they make entire matching servers with a carebear ruleset and no arenas, fine.

[kildorn]

I think he is saying that cast speed for skills is unrelated to weapon speed, so it always makes sense to use the slowest hardest hitting weapon possible.   I think WoW got around this using some kind of normalization (which is good in my opinion, i like more viable options).

The formula for an attack in WoW is:

Code:

attack power / 14 x weapon speed + weapon damage

Way back in the dawn of time, they realized that having the same formula for instant attacks as auto-attacks was fucking insane, because a decrease in speed returned an equal percentage increase in damage done for an attack not actually limited by the speed of the weapon.  So for instant attacks they replaced the speed variable with a constant which is based on weapon type.

I have no clue why they haven't further simplified the system.

That's the issue I have with the demon hunter's mechanics, yes. Essentially using a rapid fire weapon causes you to actually output about a quarter the damage of someone using the slowest crossbow they can find. I don't know why they're making this same damned mistake again, and can only hope that it's just a first pass on the combat mechanics.