Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls

[Maledict]

It does amuse me that the console versions of the game are literally superior. No AH, better itemisation, no online required.

[Threash]

That comic is going to be a hundred times funnier when it turns out to be 99% right.

[Samprimary]

that's the idea anyway. I fully expect to be almost totally right about this shit

[Tebonas]

Will this expansion turn the PC version into the console version? If not, fuck off Blizzard.

[Merusk]

Blizzard:

"We can't decouple the RMAH from the PC experience as it's integral, so no, this expansion won't do that."

Me: K, I can continue ignoring you, thx.

[Lemming]

They just need to move on to Diablo 4 and forget this whole RMT auction business. 

I am probably one of the easiest to please gamers that frequents this site and even I have to agree with you on this.  D3 failed with so many of its core features that no expansion is likely to turn it around.  I typically don't buy games at release for many reasons, but I made that mistake with D3.  It's actually the only game I bought in recent years that has given me buyer's remorse.  Dump this mediocre at best ARPG and all of its crap features and move on to D4.

[calapine]

I am sort of surprised that for example everyone is saying for MMOs "monthly fee is so outdated" but on the other hand 2+ years waiting time for an expansion pack is still acceptable.

[Tannhauser]

It does amuse me that the console versions of the game are literally superior. No AH, better itemisation, no online required.

Yep.  THAT's the game I wanted to have but I'm not buying a PS3 for it.

Not too enthused for the xpac. 

[Soulflame]

I am sort of surprised that for example everyone is saying for MMOs "monthly fee is so outdated" but on the other hand 2+ years waiting time for an expansion pack is still acceptable.

I'm not sure anyone is saying that.  On the other hand, LoD came out 3 years after the release date of D2, so if they actually do hit the 2 year mark, they'll have released an expansion for D3 one year faster than D2.

[jakonovski]

Not really interested in this. It's quite remarkable how the removal of the loot pinata in favor of RMAH completely removed the point of Diablo.

[rk47]

I am sort of surprised that for example everyone is saying for MMOs "monthly fee is so outdated" but on the other hand 2+ years waiting time for an expansion pack is still acceptable.

Oh, I'm sorry. We should've kept up with time and just call them DLCs instead.

[Fabricated]

I think back to the original gameplay footage reveal of D3 and I kinda wish I could've played that game before it got focusgrouped to death. The early betas were more interesting too, since loot had many more properties.

[Malakili]

I think back to the original gameplay footage reveal of D3 and I kinda wish I could've played that game before it got focusgrouped to death. The early betas were more interesting too, since loot had many more properties.

Well, the early betas were only up to level 15 or so, and the game is still arguably fine through act 1.  The problem is that as you go most of the properties are utterly worthless, and particularly at the end of the game basically only 3 non-stat properties matter.  Since they got that new lead developer they've been talking about a major itemization overhaul, but the longer I wait the more I assume they are saving it for the expansion pack instead of releasing a big patch.

[Paelos]

I think the itemization thing is going to be a pre-release expansion patch, not the expansion itself.

[Reg]

It had better be.  Otherwise there's not the tiniest chance of me ever buying the expansion.  Even so, it won't be a first day buy.

[Yegolev]

Will this expansion turn the PC version into the console version? If not, fuck off Blizzard.

Heh, did a PC gamer just wish for consolization?  Cats and dogs living together!

[Tebonas]

Yeah, and I had to self-flagellate in penance for an hour after writing those dirty words. Thats what Blizzard did to me! 

[Malakili]

I think the itemization thing is going to be a pre-release expansion patch, not the expansion itself.

Well, I hope so, but it has been a long time coming and I have the feeling it might get pushed back long enough to be in the expansion.

[Fabricated]

I wonder what new item gimmick is going to be in this one. Maybe they'll restore some of the other artisans they initially removed.

[Mrbloodworth]

It will feature Bind-to-hardware-ID and a new currency, Diabloons.

[Paelos]

It will feature Bind-to-hardware-ID and a new currency, Diabloons.

I laughed at Diabloons. That was good.

In all seriousness, they can't fix itemization and have it be expansion specific. That's too sweeping of a change to the entire game to have it specifically tied to an upgrade system or something that only xpac people can access. They need to be looking at drop rates and prefixes from the ground up. That's why I think it has to be a patch, much like the changes you get before a WoW xpac even if you don't get access to the content.

[Yegolev]

Or, you know, they just don't ever fix it.

[WayAbvPar]

Or, you know, they just don't ever fix it.

My money is on this. And thus will remain in my bank account and not be handed over to Blizzard.

[Paelos]

Or, you know, they just don't ever fix it.

Ok, see there's two ways to look at this. Are you saying they won't try, or are you saying they won't succeed? Because the second one is entirely open to interpretation while the first isn't.

[Soulflame]

I can't speak for anyone else, but I suspect that Blizzard may well not even try to fix the itemization.  That'd likely require a fairly large rework of skills as well, and they already have our money anyway.

As for succeeding, if they do try, I don't see that as being possible.  Even if they do revamp skills and how they interact with stats, all that will do is shake up which stats are the "most important" for the "best spec". It won't, long term, fix the problem that with the AH, better items are always flowing into the system.

[Malakili]

I can't speak for anyone else, but I suspect that Blizzard may well not even try to fix the itemization.  That'd likely require a fairly large rework of skills as well, and they already have our money anyway.

As for succeeding, if they do try, I don't see that as being possible.  Even if they do revamp skills and how they interact with stats, all that will do is shake up which stats are the "most important" for the "best spec". It won't, long term, fix the problem that with the AH, better items are always flowing into the system.

Well, the itemization problem is DIFFERENT from the AH problem.  They've explicitly said they recognize the itemization problems, pretty much precisely the ones people have been comaplining about and have seen a major rework/patch is coming at some point.  So, I guess they could just be bullshitting, but I don't see any reason why blizzard would just being making shit up like this. 

[Ingmar]

They've already said they're going to change itemization, you guys are crossing over from cynicism to absurdity at this point.

[Hoax]

What does that mean? Are they going to make it so that a Wizard doesn't use a battleaxe because that makes his spells maximum damages? Or is this just about how certain stats are insanely more important than others so that an item without x or y+z is automatically worthless, no other consideration needed?

Can someone who plays or cares enough to know give me a list of say the 3 most important itemization changes that are expected? Like say if they get 2 of 3 of these things fixed itemization will be better. Honest question.

[Malakili]

What does that mean? Are they going to make it so that a Wizard doesn't use a battleaxe because that makes his spells maximum damages? Or is this just about how certain stats are insanely more important than others so that an item without x or y+z is automatically worthless, no other consideration needed?

Can someone who plays or cares enough to know give me a list of say the 3 most important itemization changes that are expected? Like say if they get 2 of 3 of these things fixed itemization will be better. Honest question.

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/8953696/developer-journal-itemization-update-3-5-2013#best

[Ragnoros]

Well if a Wizard wants to use a battle axe, why not? If they couldn't then people would be bitching about Blizz restricting their fun. Some builds prefer a 2-Handed weapon, other like 1H + Source. Neither here nor there.

Yeah, the stats problem is the big one. I found armor. Goes it have (Main Stat) + Vit + All Res + Sockets / Dmg Stat? No? Junk.

Rares are another. While it's great Legendaries don't suck now, rares are basically worthless outside of weapons/jewelry. People don't even pick them up.

However they have been very tight lipped (per blizzard usual) about what changes they are planning for the most part. So while we can speculate (f13, speculate? never!) that's about it.

[Malakili]

I think the problem is less "Mage using a battle axe" and more "All skills scale with damage from the weapon."  It is also related to the affixes problem, of course. One of the weapon diversity was so good in Diablo 2 was that there were different attributes which mattered to different classes AND that +skills mattered.  The reason most people are using weapons not themed for their class isn't that they have a powerful desire to play a mage with a battle axe, but because it happens to be the highest DPS weapon they can wield at the moment.

[Ragnoros]

Personally, I like that spell damage scales with weapon damage. Diablo 2 weapon 'diversity' for caster classes basically boiled down to: If poor, Wizzardspike or random +3 skill wand. If not poor, Occy or HOTO. Unless you are a summon necro, then it's an Arm of King Leoric or go home.

[Yegolev]

That article is stupid.

Potential future Legendary item ideas include a Voodoo Mask that increases pet damage,

This should be a general ability of a WD item.  Nope, you have to get to the end game before you do something other than battle axe spell crits.

I'm sure they will take a big swipe at fixing items, but they won't fix the stats or basic mechanics.  You guys are going to get this patch and moan, then get all horny for the expansion that will end up fixing whatever horseshit you are wallowing in while trying to recreate your bowazon you had when you were thirteen.  Only the expansion won't do what you want.  MOANS.

[Job601]

All skills scaling from weapons was a good idea, and it fixed the problem from Diablo 3 that the vast majority of weapon drops were not even potentially useful for the spellcaster classes.  For what it's worth, while weapon dps is still important, as player expertise has developed, other stats on weapons have become important to many niche builds.

It's funny for people to complain that rares aren't good now, since it was that complaint about Diablo 2 that led them to make rares relatively good when Diablo 3 released, a system which the mob hated.  The punishing difficulty of Inferno at release was another problem that came from listening to what fans said they wanted instead of thinking about what they needed.

For what it's worth, I've never seen any fan offer anything constructive while discussing the item system.  Of course a good item is going to be better than one that's not as good; that would be true even if there weren't key stats for each class.  The problem is that the auction house makes it too easy to find near-optimal items.  It also makes you feel bad because you can always see the good items you can't afford.

People sure don't like this game, but they tend to have a hard time expressing the real reasons why they don't like it.  My opinion is that the auction house ruins everything.  It creates bad gameplay patterns and it makes you feel like you're wasting your time.  If they want to fix the expansion, they should take it out or make all the good items bind to your account.

[Hoax]

Good post. Why can't they just copy the very excellent idea for leagues in PoE and they could just have a NO-AH league in both hard and softcore, if they take off great, do them every X months if not who cares that's gotta be easier than trying to fix the entire game over and over surely?