1.0.8 - More bullshit, no itemization fixes

[Paelos]

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/9425564/public-test-realm-patch-108-notes-4-8-2013

I'm getting more and more frustrated with how far they are stringing out the itemization problems. We're 8 patches deep now, and the best they've done is fix legendaries from being total shit.

The only fix in this I care about is they increased the mob density on all Acts other than 3. Outside of that, it's just multiplayer QOL changes.

[Ingmar]

It isn't news that the itemization changes weren't going to be in this one. I really like the multiplayer changes.

[Malakili]

Yea, they had said explicitly that the itemization was more of a long term goal (I read this as "expansion").  1.08 looks fairly ho hum.  Multiplayer would be more interesting if I had more friends that still played.  I see a few people from here signed on with some regularity, but that is it.

[Ironwood]

Yeah, they're going to make you pay for good itemisation.

 

[Paelos]

If they plan on making us pay for itemization fixes, they damn well better release that thing before Labor Day. The game will have been out a year in May.

[Malakili]

Played on the PTR for a few minutes today.  The quality of life stuff is nice, but should have been in the game since the beginning.

[Ingmar]

The itemization fixes being in the expansion patch doesn't mean you will have to pay for them. Expansion will mean new areas, but any drop math changes will still apply to the old content as well, this is how it always works with Blizzard games. They're not going to make it so that you have 4 acts of bad drop math and then suddenly in act 5 it changes, because you still are playing through those acts to get to that 5th act, several times.

[Rendakor]

I'm not sure that's a sure thing Ingmar; Blizzard has a history of only letting the new expansion have proper itemization (see, how long it took 1-60 WoW itemization to get overhauled).

[Rokal]

The itemization fixes being in the expansion patch doesn't mean you will have to pay for them. Expansion will mean new areas, but any drop math changes will still apply to the old content as well, this is how it always works with Blizzard games. They're not going to make it so that you have 4 acts of bad drop math and then suddenly in act 5 it changes, because you still are playing through those acts to get to that 5th act, several times.

I don't know if it's actually a given. I think balance changes branched when the WC3 expansion came out, for example. It's possible they'll still let you connect to D3 and play a vanilla version of the game which may not include whatever itemization/stat changes they make in the expansion.

That said, it's an always-online game and things have changed quite a bit since D2/WC3, so I'd be surprised if they chose to service an expansion and non-expansion version of the game simultaneously. They really *need* to put the itemization/stat changes in without requiring an expansion purchase because legions of people who were burnt by D3 aren't exactly going to believe Blizzard's claims that they managed to fix everything and the game is actually fun, but only if you pay $40.

[Ingmar]

D2 patched both basic and LoD all the way up to 1.13 (the latest patch IIRC). 1-60 content changes in Cataclysm applied to even vanilla players, for free. Balance changes forking in W3 was a good thing because it meant they were paying attention to the game experience for players with different levels of access.

I know we're in paranoid delusion Blizzard is worse than Hitler land here, but surely there's a limit to that kind of thinking?

[Rokal]

I'm not claiming that they'll leave D3 Vanilla purchasers in the dust, but they may choose to keep the versions of the game separate especially if the D3 expansion changes a lot. For example if they wanted to add Runes and Rune sockets to the expansion which greatly modify abilities and cause Blizzard to make lots of balance changes, they may keep the balance where it is and simply not allow runes or rune sockets to drop for D3 vanilla players. It's not about good/evil, it's about whether they want to preserve Vanilla D3 or force everyone to move to the new game.

In this case there is an obvious choice that will be unpopular because Vanilla D3 doesn't have many fans and people already feel like they didn't get what they were promised.

[Paelos]

If they try to have us redeem Leah, hold the itemization to new content, and cram a $40 price point down our throats, I simply won't purchase it.

[Yegolev]

They can force me to move to the expansion, but I don't want to have to pay for it.

[calapine]

I fully expect them to pull a Blizzard and release the expansion in Q2 2014...


No, thanks. Not buying.

[Rendakor]

D2 patched both basic and LoD all the way up to 1.13 (the latest patch IIRC). 1-60 content changes in Cataclysm applied to even vanilla players, for free. Balance changes forking in W3 was a good thing because it meant they were paying attention to the game experience for players with different levels of access.

I know we're in paranoid delusion Blizzard is worse than Hitler land here, but surely there's a limit to that kind of thinking?

Emphasis mine, and exactly my point. 1-60 itemization in WoW was left alone through BC and WotLK; it took them THREE expansions to fix it.

[Ingmar]

It isn't really relevant, though, since you don't play through the vanilla content 4 times to get a character to max level the way you do in Diablo.

[Merusk]

But it's a brave new era where you have to give bux to Kotick and Roper, not 2001.

[Paelos]

Apparently some massive gold dupe just happened and they've yanked the AH and RMAH with no details and no estimate on when they will be back.

[Malakili]

Hmm.  Odd.

New patch is ok to play.  I'm enjoying being able to play things besides act 3.

[schild]

Looks like the dupe worked on the RMAH also.

Fucking hi-larious.

[Ironwood]

Ahahaha.

You've given me a belly laugh.

[Lantyssa]

Awesome.  So the game is closer to how it should be.

[luckton]

Things are going back online.  They're not rolling back shit, rather they're just gonna perma-ban the dupers. 

[waffel]

Things are going back online.  They're not rolling back shit, rather they're just gonna perma-ban the dupers. 

Except the dupers spent hours buying up every single item they could find on the AH, thus spreading the gold out across the community.

[Paelos]

Things are going back online.  They're not rolling back shit, rather they're just gonna perma-ban the dupers. 

Except the dupers spent hours buying up every single item they could find on the AH, thus spreading the gold out across the community.

Yeah I'm not sure how this is a fix. They've basically inflated the economy beyond recognition. I have no idea what things will look like when I get back online today, but I can't imagine this will do enough to stop the problem.

[Malakili]

Yea, the economy seems pretty shot.  On the plus side I've been playing hardcore lately, and this bug couldn't be exploited in HC because it involved in RMAH.

[Trippy]

Integer overflow bug

[Paelos]

Integer overflow bug

I honestly don't understand how they believe they can individually attack the problem without a rollback. The money goes out into the economy already for the items. That means that items sold for real money get corrected, and the players associated get banned, but the gold itself is still swimming out there.

[Yegolev]

[Malakili]

Yeah, I don't see any way out of this without a rollback.  I'm not playing any for a few days until it gets a bit more sorted out. They've fucked up big time with this, and I recall lots of people saying something like this was inevitable given the RMAH (although I was not necessarily among them).  Either way, I hope they figure out a way to fix this without leaving the economy hosed.

 I will say the little I did play was pretty good.  The new monster density is noticeably better and means all the acts are fairly similar viability.  Killing stuff in the fields of misery early almost reminded me of the D2 cow level (in which god knows how many hours I spent).  The identify all thing is also really nice and makes it worth picking up all the rares that drop again, which is nice.  They still need to fix itemization, but the game itself does keep improving, regardless of the hate.

[Paelos]

I was fine with the changes. The delays of itemization continue to annoy me, but we're not paying them to continually update the thing month to month.

But yes, if they completely screw over the economy they are going to make the trading game worthless, which in turn will completely fuck over their expansion sales.

[Outlawedprod]

At least some people finally could enjoy the game.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZidgohZaws

[Soulflame]

I enjoyed lagging all over the fucking place.  Plus there are still completely bullshit monster combinations.  Hello waller+mortar.  Why yes, you are totally fair, especially combined with lag.

[Lantyssa]

Integer overflow bug

This is better than I could have ever hoped for.  The Schadenfreude is strong with this one.

[Ironwood]

Question :  According to that article, you'd need to have billions to generate the bug ?  Am I reading it wrong ?