Complaints, gripes, kvetches...

[Phred]

If you want Torchlight 2, lol@you because it looks like they've sort of confirmed another 2-3 month delay via twitter.

I have no idea what the fuck those guys are up to.

Aren't they the ex-D2 developers who took 5 years to release a game using the same graphic engine as D1? And mostly the same mob models?

Yes, no, no, not sure.

Dec 31/96 -> June 29/2000 is pretty close to 5 years. And it must have taken a lot of work to get that 640x480 res upgraded to, what was diablo 2's res again?

[Hawkbit]

What?  Torchlight was founded out of the Hellgate/Mythos debacle.  Torchlight 1 had something like 18months total dev time.

[Merusk]

He's bagging on D2, not Torchlight.

[Hawkbit]

Apologies.  I'm in the middle of writing a program that outputs factors from a range of input values.  My brain is fried whenever I look at numbers right now. 

[Phred]

Ya I have a lot of respect for the torchlite devs actually. I'm pretty sure it was studio problems that accounted for the disappointing initial release of D2, not the dev team all being members of a raiding guild on the Nameless server in EQ. :)

[Setanta]

I enjoyed Torchlight 1 and the Beta of T2. So I'm hoping release will be great.

I had a chuckle at some of the Krater advertising blurb:

No mandatory connection to an online service: For those who rather stay clear of online gaming and enjoy playing through the campaign in offline mode there is a fully supported single player offline mode.

I wonder who that was aimed at (and also if it's a decent game)

[Rokal]

I wonder who that was aimed at (and also if it's a decent game)

You should buy it and tell us in the Krater thread! 

[Threash]

Another night that it is too laggy to play. 

[01101010]

Enlightened Shrines... in Inferno. 

[ezrast]

Half gripe, half protip, filed under "completely opaque mechanics": each and every skill, including runed versions, seems to return a completely arbitrary amount of life based on the "life on hit" stat (for example: the Witch Doctor blowdart that hits three times actually returns less life than most of the ones that only hit once; see WD thread for more info). The only way to figure out what these are is to experiment with every single skill and see how much you get. I imagine there are plenty of people that tried stacking life on hit to survive Inferno and determined the stat was worthless, only because they happened to be using skills that didn't benefit much from it at the time.

[Murgos]

If you google around a bit you can find charts that say how much of the full amount of life on hit are returned by each skill.

It's not completely opaque, mostly it seems to just mitigate Area Effect abilities from just going completely over the top with the amount of life returned.  You can expect that a single target ability returns 100% of the Life on Hit amount and that for the more targets hit the total Life on Hit per hit reduces.  You still get more life for hitting more targets, it's just not as same as n*LoH.

[calapine]

Well, Blizzard shouldn't have angered our resident Germans!  

Now the Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband (vzbv) issued a two part reprimand to re: Diablo


A) Labeling isn't clear enough. The German box only reads "Battle.net registration required" and "internet connection required". According to the Vzbv this is inadequate to inform consumers that Diablo is Online-only play, rather than a one-time online registration for example.  Vzbv considers this a Wettbewerbsverstoß (‘violation of competition rule’) and requested Blizzard to submit an Unterlassungserklärung (‘declaration to cease and desist’) until July 13th.

B) Connecton issues. Vzbz notes that gamers had no access to the game for a long period. From 15.5.12 to beginning of June they received numerous complains about being unable to play,  most often centered on “Error 37”.
Vzbz argues that if a game producer demands online play they are required to supply the necessary technical infrastructure - including sufficient server capacities.

Link (german)

[Tannhauser]

And everyone knows what happens when you get the Germans angry.


There's a uniquely German word for the pleasure I'm feeling at Blizzard's misfortune by demanding online play.

[Hutch]

Gotterdammerung? 

[Zetor]

Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitänskajütentürsicherheitsschlüssel, obviously.

[Jeff Kelly]

Hey, still better then when we overcook your bratwurst (yeah I'm talking about penises)

Game sales are handled like any other retail sale in German law, so any limitations on use and anything concerning resale (first sale doctrine is applicable) has to be advertised clearly.

Blizzard also doesn't adhere to the refund and return policy of the EU.

[Lightstalker]

I miss stat allocation.

Like the intentional gimpy MoM playthroughs (Lizardmen, Myrran start, 1 life book), you can't play through normal without allocating any of your stat points anymore.  You can't find yourself in a situation where a cool item drops and you have to wait a few levels to get the stats in the right levels to equip it.  There is no trade off for primary stat vs. putting on heavier armor, that high Dex DPS weapon, etc.  This was an unnecessary simplification, probably just to avoid putting in a respec feature and 'simplify' the loot experience.

I also think the AH has rescaled expectations for loot.  Previously we'd only compare our drops against other drops of ours.  Now we can compare our drops against millions of other player's drops.  That's a loser proposition for the set of 'our drops' and we find ourselves never getting anything useful to drop.  We always know we can find better, so we're dissappointed.  The Hardcore AH and experience is much better in this regard as items cycle out of the world and cash hasn't inflated nearly as much.  My HC characters have purchased set items (full sets) and uniques off the AH and routinely wear 100% rare, but drops in the world are still exciting either for myself or for the AH because the sample set my find rate is competing against isn't as vast.

[Setanta]

I don't think the AH is the only factor. the fact that 99% of loot that you pick up is useless for most if not all of your toons doesn't help.

As I said on one of my posts - killing bosses for gear that is so low in ilvl that you couldn't down that boss in it is a pretty shitty mechanic.

[Malakili]

I also think the AH has rescaled expectations for loot.  Previously we'd only compare our drops against other drops of ours.  Now we can compare our drops against millions of other player's drops. 

This has got to be the reason I like D3 and so many around here don't.  I was involved heavily in the player economy in Diablo 2 and all Diablo 3 did is make it so I don't have to sit in trade chat for 2 hours to find a good deal on an item. 

[Ironwood]

Well, that's good.  I'm glad Blizzard monetized you and fucked over the rest of the chaps that were actually interested in playing.

I'm sure that's going to be a winning strategy for them.

[Malakili]

Well, that's good.  I'm glad Blizzard monetized you and fucked over the rest of the chaps that were actually interested in playing.

I'm sure that's going to be a winning strategy for them.

I'm not talking about the RM economy, I'm simply talking about trading.  I had no interest in RM trading in D2, and I don't in D3 either.

[Tebonas]

You may be missing the point here.

You are playng a tradesim, for you the game is fine.

Others want to play the game, not the auction house. They are fucked.

[Ironwood]

Quite.

It's really just not a good game, by any yardstick.

[Malakili]

Sigh.  Whatever.  I'm having plenty of fun clearing inferno with my friend.  We get on skype, shoot the shit, clear stuff and have a great time.  You say I don't actually like playing the game, just the economy.  But that is bullshit.  I enjoy playing the game for the game's sake, and the economy stuff is a fun/engaging layer on top.  THAT is the problem. In my opinion it is you guys who don't actually enjoy playing the game because the second you stop getting good drops you stop having fun, meanwhile I'm having a great time just playing regardless so I don't feel like it is pointless when my luck on drops goes bad.


But whatever, I guess the game is shit, there is no way I should be having any fun.

[Paelos]

My guess is you're playing a Wizard or DH.

[Malakili]

My guess is you're playing a Wizard or DH.

DH and Monk (DH in Act 2 inferno, Monk will finish Act 1 inferno tonight).  I'm enjoying the Monk a bit more, but I like them both.  The friend I've been playing with is Barbarian, if that matters.

[Job601]

Quite.

It's really just not a good game, by any yardstick.

Your anger about this game has made you lose touch with reality.

[Ironwood]

I'm not angry.  I'm dissapointed.

(Hooray, when Forums and Parenting quotes collide !)

[Lakov_Sanite]

I'm not angry.  I'm dissapointed.

(Hooray, when Forums and Parenting quotes collide !)

Welcome to my world.

[Slayerik]

So far everyone in my house still plays. Each of the kids and my fiancee are killing diablo for the first time. When they have problems, I spend 5 minutes with them in the AH and they are ready for Nightmare after that :)

I am personally still very hooked on the game. Only time I question the fun is when I read forums...

[Thrawn]

Only time I question the fun is when I read forums...

Sound like an easy fix. 

[Ironwood]

So far everyone in my house still plays. Each of the kids and my fiancee are killing diablo for the first time. When they have problems, I spend 5 minutes with them in the AH and they are ready for Nightmare after that :)

I am personally still very hooked on the game. Only time I question the fun is when I read forums...

If you're having fun, you're having fun.

Don't let any other motherfuckers get you down.

Unless you're killing whores IRL.  Then it's kinda wrong.

[Llyse]

I miss stat allocation.

Like the intentional gimpy MoM playthroughs (Lizardmen, Myrran start, 1 life book), you can't play through normal without allocating any of your stat points anymore.  You can't find yourself in a situation where a cool item drops and you have to wait a few levels to get the stats in the right levels to equip it.  There is no trade off for primary stat vs. putting on heavier armor, that high Dex DPS weapon, etc.  This was an unnecessary simplification, probably just to avoid putting in a respec feature and 'simplify' the loot experience.

I also think the AH has rescaled expectations for loot.  Previously we'd only compare our drops against other drops of ours.  Now we can compare our drops against millions of other player's drops.  That's a loser proposition for the set of 'our drops' and we find ourselves never getting anything useful to drop.  We always know we can find better, so we're dissappointed.  The Hardcore AH and experience is much better in this regard as items cycle out of the world and cash hasn't inflated nearly as much.  My HC characters have purchased set items (full sets) and uniques off the AH and routinely wear 100% rare, but drops in the world are still exciting either for myself or for the AH because the sample set my find rate is competing against isn't as vast.

I have to agree with all of this. It's kind of nut punching for new players who just pump stats into useless attributes but the anticipation of having stat points ready to pump strength for a new piece of armour was very satisfying. A free/reasonably cost paid respec somewhere would have solved this problem quite handily.

[Paelos]

I'd love to actually see a poll on skill points. My guess is that most people didn't like them, but I'd like to get some background.

EDIT: Personally, I hated the idea of allocating points. It added nothing for the non-min-max gamer, and forced them to look for information outside the game to be productive.

[KallDrexx]

The skill system was definitely one of hte better parts of D3 for me.