Are you done? Why?

[Rokal]

Blizzard didn't get *all* of it right. And they don't have the luxury to launch multiple versions of a game and have the improvements show up in sequels. For example, the difference between Assassin's Creed and Assassin's Creed 2. The core of AC was good, but it didn't shine until 2. Player feedback on a live product is invaluable.

On the other hand, AC didn't have the luxury of a beta test. Diablo 3 could have had a more comprehensive beta for the majority of closed testing and would have found many of the problems with the game, especially if they had enabled the AH for beta. They didn't either because they are short-sighted or because of their ego.

It's interesting seeing the problems Blizzard's "release it when it's ready" mantra has caused with their recent releases. It sounds like solid advice if you want a good product, right? But the flexibility it offered meant that Blizzard was able to scrap entire systems like Path of the Titans and Skill Runes that could have potentially turned out interesting. After such a long amount of time has passed without creating a satisfying design, "when it's ready" is no longer acceptable for the company and we end up with Archaeology in WoW or the boring Rune system in Diablo 3. The systems in those games might have actually turned out better if the developers weren't so willing to start over.

You could say that Diablo 3 was released when it wasn't ready, but does anyone actually believe that the game would have been better if given another 2 years of development time? We may have ended up with a product that was somehow worse than what we actually got.

[Xanthippe]

You could say that Diablo 3 was released when it wasn't ready, but does anyone actually believe that the game would have been better if given another 2 years of development time? We may have ended up with a product that was somehow worse than what we actually got.

Releasing a game "when it's ready" ought not mean "keep fucking with different designs" but rather, "polish."

Why do software developers continually have to change/fuck things up and bloat shit up in later versions, when really mostly what people want is a newer version of a game that they can play on their modern machines?

Suppose Diablo 3 had merely been Diablo 2 rewritten but more or less the same? I think it would have done as well. I'd probably still be playing it - but then, I'd also be playing DAOC2 if it was ever redone.

[LK]

On the other hand, AC didn't have the luxury of a beta test. Diablo 3 could have had a more comprehensive beta for the majority of closed testing and would have found many of the problems with the game, especially if they had enabled the AH for beta. They didn't either because they are short-sighted or because of their ego.

I would say that keeping things a secret is of extreme importance to Blizzard and any other game company out there. They want people to see only what they want them to see. The first thirteen levels were there to sell the game and to hook people. Once you're hooked, then you're invested and less likely to quit when the inevitable end-game with its different rules and objectives hit. It's the difference between putting down the game and moving on or passionately defending it and hoping for change, thereby sticking with it. They want the latter -- they want your loyalty / emotional investment / fandom. Good for business.

Releasing a game "when it's ready" ought not mean "keep fucking with different designs" but rather, "polish."

This.

[Abelian75]

Yeah, my own experience in the game industry (at SOE, since we're being confessional in this thread, apparently) kinda made me feel like the "iteration" concept/excuse has been taken too far.  I only saw the one company in the AAA game industry, but it feels like it's sort of a widespread thing.  I mean, obviously you need to be willing to change your design when it proves unfun, but it felt to me like nobody even tried to figure out what would be fun, and why, before implementing whatever idea of the week they had.  I don't blame anyone in particular for this, it just felt like the culture as a whole was pretty bad at the "stop and think" side of things.  Certainly you can swing too far in that direction, I'm sure, but I did feel like the "blind experimentation" aspect of development was a little too extreme.

(I do like Diablo 3 a lot, for the record, but yeah, for how much time it took, it's telling that some of the flaws are as blindingly obvious as they are)

[Margalis]

When development goes on for too long it can become hard to even remember why certain decisions were made, either because of staff turnover or due to the sheer length of time. So you might try something, decide it's bad, then 3 years later someone says "hey why don't we try this thing?" and nobody remembers why it was ditched the first time.

Edit: Also a lot of video game companies throw out a lot of work. And not in way that makes sense, like "we thought this was a good idea and implemented it, then it turned out to not be fun" but more like a vice-president checks in on a cinematic that the team has worked on for 3 months and decides he doesn't like it.

[Phildo]

In the original spirit of this thread: my account was hacked by gold farmers so I was temporarily banned.  Scrambled my password and haven't even tried to log back in since then.

[Pennilenko]

I played around with it a bit after the patch for like a half hour or so and haven't gone back to it since. It isn't even a fraction as sticky for me as path of exile.

[Thrawn]

In the original spirit of this thread: my account was hacked by gold farmers so I was temporarily banned.  Scrambled my password and haven't even tried to log back in since then.

I buddy I game with a had his account "hacked" recently.  Took him a few days to get it back because he couldn't even get through to Blizzard customer support since they were so busy.  When he did get his account back his Demon Hunter was leveled from 21 to 60 and he had decent gear and a bunch of gold he didn't have before.  

*edit* Now that I think about it he posts around here occasionally. 

[Fabricated]

I logged back in for the new patch stuff and got one of my characters a bit into Hell difficulty. Still kinda boring.

[Malakili]

I didn't know which thread to put this in, so I settled on this one  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBayYWSz0UQ

[TheWalrus]

The music stopping while you wait for slow bitch in the spider cave is totally 

[Paelos]

That's brilliant. The last minute had me rolling with Mr. Fartypants.

[Ratman_tf]

I didn't know which thread to put this in, so I settled on this one  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBayYWSz0UQ

 

[Yegolev]

[Ironwood]

 

[Yegolev]

From the video.

[Ironwood]

Yeah, I know, I didn't get it then either.

[waffel]

In the video the guy on the ground moans as he dies, that pops up because it's a popular meme where an older fellow clutches his chest.

[rattran]

Stupid Blizzard. Guess I'm done with Diablo3 not because I've run out of fun, but because my account was 'locked due to suspicious activity' I tried out their mobile authenticator at one point, then when I changed providers/phones had to use their sms protect thing to remove it. I didn't port the number, and now have no way access the account without it.

Hacks are bad, I get that. Locking accounts with no way to recover doesn't seem better. At least I didn't pay that much for the game, but put me back on the Fuck Blizzard wagon.

[Ironwood]

I get my WoW Account locked for 'suspicious' every time I log on to Battle.net.

From anywhere.

I stopped doing that.

[Yegolev]

I opened a service ticket when D3 came out since I had managed to fuck my authenticator sideways.  I sent a picture of my driver's license in and they fixed me up.

[rattran]

You have to log in now to open a support ticket. And their customer service number doesn't seem to go anywhere.

[Yegolev]

Sixty dollars well-spent.

[Phred]

Stupid Blizzard. Guess I'm done with Diablo3 not because I've run out of fun, but because my account was 'locked due to suspicious activity' I tried out their mobile authenticator at one point, then when I changed providers/phones had to use their sms protect thing to remove it. I didn't port the number, and now have no way access the account without it.

Hacks are bad, I get that. Locking accounts with no way to recover doesn't seem better. At least I didn't pay that much for the game, but put me back on the Fuck Blizzard wagon.

Um why do you think there is no way to recover? Google blizzard's customer support number and phone them. Took me about 15 min including hold time in queue to get it fixed. They are being extra cautious cause they are a huge target I suppose. That suspicious activity can be as little as getting a new computer or logging into your account from a friends appearantly. Mine was from buying a new computer and all I had to do was remember the answer to my secret question and the mailed me a password reset email. I don't play d3 anymore but this sure wouldnt stop me.

As to the support number the toll free north american number worked fine for me I just had to wait until Monday.

[waffel]

Started playing this again (was on sale)

Is there any way to confine the mouse cursor while in windowed mode?

[Paelos]

Started playing this again (was on sale)

Is there any way to confine the mouse cursor while in windowed mode?

From what I understand they just put that option into SC2 last month to test it. It's not in D3 yet, sadly. Several similar questions on the forums indicate that you can only play in Windowed[fullscreen] mode at that moment in the dropdown options.

[Ratman_tf]

I've drunk deep of Torchlight 2, and fired up D3 again last night for a change of pace.

Nothing earth shaking to say. I stand by my assessment that D3 is a good game, but not a great one. Which is a shame for the 3rd game in a great franchise.

[Paelos]

I still play one marathon session on the weekends while I watch sports. I clear an entire act, caves and all, to see what it nets me at the end of the day. Usually it's about 3 legendaries, and 5M gold.

[Ingmar]

I've drunk deep of Torchlight 2, and fired up D3 again last night for a change of pace.

Nothing earth shaking to say. I stand by my assessment that D3 is a good game, but not a great one. Which is a shame for the 3rd game in a great franchise.

It's the 2nd best game in the franchise, and with all the changes to it now, I think I might even like it better than D2. I certainly like not losing my online characters every time I walk away for 2 months, so even if it probably isn't a better game I'm more likely to come back to it from time to time.

Diablo 1 was mediocre at best.

[Pennilenko]

I still play one marathon session on the weekends while I watch sports. I clear an entire act, caves and all, to see what it nets me at the end of the day. Usually it's about 3 legendaries, and 5M gold.

How much MF and GF are you running with and what level of MP do you set and which act seems to net you good drops?

[Ratman_tf]

Diablo 1 was mediocre at best.

Oh, we may have to duel over that. I think D1 was the best. I like the refinements of the sequels, but there's something "pure" about the first one.

[Ingmar]

I think it was a clunky attempt at a graphical Nethack, with none of the depth or strategy. (Also the less said about the expansion the better...) It wasn't until D2 that they made the formula work, largely by abandoning the roguelike aspirations and embracing the action side instead.

[Paelos]

How much MF and GF are you running with and what level of MP do you set and which act seems to net you good drops?

MP4, my companion adds 20% MF with his gear, and I'm paragon 15 so it's 45% from that. Also I have 20% GF on my shoulders.

Usually in one full clear I come upon an item that's worth at least 3M up to something I sold for 10M. Act 2 seems to have netted the best drops, although others say Act 3 for mob density. However, I think that 2 has more dungeons, which I like better with a stack of 5 since the chests are $$$ on MP levels.

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Paelos-1244/hero/5141137

That's my gear, and It's mostly bargain bin stuff with nothing over 2M a piece.

[Selby]

It wasn't until D2 that they made the formula work, largely by abandoning the roguelike aspirations and embracing the action side instead.

Now see this is why I think D2 wasn't as good, the pseudo randomized dungeon aspect of it was completely absent compared to D1.  It had considerably more action and the character development was definitely more varied than the simple formulas of D1, which I felt improved it.  My main gripe was it felt like the same 3-4 dungeons over and over again and really large land maps without too much substance.

That and the bugs.  Fuck having large bugs be enemies in the game, it's just a personal pet peeve ;-)

[Malakili]

Act 3 "Alkaizer" runs are the best I think.  But I've been focusing on paragon leveling rather than pure loot farming.  In the long run the bonuses from paragon levels really start to add up.  Also, you can run Act 3 on MP0 which allows you to absolutely crush through it at insane speeds.  As a rule the Monster Power ramps up Monster health faster than Magic Find, so it is less efficient unless you can one shot things anyway, or unless you are farming keys. 

This is my Act 3 MP0 farming setup: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/zhenya-1362/hero/4515169

I have different gear and spec for doing high MPs.