Diablo 3 - Incredibly Early Impressions @ RPS

Gallaphant said:

I've never opened a phishing email, so that had nothing to do with it. I do, however, receive at least 2-3 of them EVERY freakin' day.

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Yeah it's more likely to be malicious software on your machine that monitors your activity. The easiest way to get that is by using unsecure 3rd party programs to play WoW. Some websites also have code that lets them track your computer's activity while the website is open. Even if you never plan to play WoW again, you might want to take some time to make sure whatever internet security program you are using is running and up to date.

Phishing though is just spam, there's nothing that you or anyone else can do about that except through spam filters. Although you are getting an unusually high amount of it.

Dhruin said:

And for me. I remember the first time I encountered The Butcher and nearly had a heart attack. Diablo 2 might have been a better "game" but it felt like a game, rather than an atmospheric trip into the underworld.

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AAAahh! Fresh meat!

+1, that was a formative experience in my pc gaming life. But... I tried to play Diablo about a year ago, and it was just too slow. I think for the time period, it was great, but time marches on and kiting the butcher and dying repeatedly to leoric just wasnt really fun this time around playing solo. Uninstalled

Might be fun for some nostalgic MP

Add me to the list of people who found Diablo more memorable than D2.

D2 may have been a much deeper game, but the atmosphere just wasn't there for me in the single-player.

And that Tristam theme… still one of the most memorable tracks I've ever heard in a PC game.

It was so deep that I didn't realize it was supposed to be replayed. Back then I normally just played a game once and that was it. I remember thinking when I passed D1 that I still had a bunch of higher level spells to find and where the heck were they?

At the time of Diablo, almost all PC games were still singleplayer games. Doom had been released a few years before - and was THE game to initiate the change of focus in so many genres. I think Diablo was a part of that initiative.

So, while they always meant for Diablo to be a multiplayer experience - they did emphasize the singleplayer aspect in a way that Diablo 2 didn't. They made unique quests for singleplayer - and what you did to complete them made a lot more sense as a singleplayer RPG.

The pacing was also slower and more deliberate.

Diablo 2 was a very different game in many ways, and certainly in terms of the atmosphere. I can easily understand why fans of traditional RPGs would prefer the first game.

However, as a multiplayer experience and a "hack and slash" game, Diablo 2 exceeded Diablo in every way imaginable.

I've always felt that people who sat down to play Diablo (the 2nd especially) for a singleplayer experience - were doing it all wrong.

Not to say they can't be enjoyable - but it was never the point of the design.

It seems to me that Diablo 3 takes that even further - and while it's likely to have a decent story and interesting sights, the core of the game seems to be about sharing the experience more so than ever before.

Dhruin said:

And for me. I remember the first time I encountered The Butcher and nearly had a heart attack. Diablo 2 might have been a better "game" but it felt like a game, rather than an atmospheric trip into the underworld.

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I don't know about atmospheric trip into the underworld. With the whole jumping back and forth between the dungeon and the town, clearing one level after another, it felt to me more like a simple Donkey Kong arcade game where you finished two dimensional levels. Ding. Next level. Ding. Aaannnd next. Ding. And another one... and so on...
I found Diablo 2 to be more engaging because it had a "real" world with diverse environments to explore and at least an excuse of a plot to follow.

What I don't get at all is how some people can seriously call the Diablo games "creepy" in any way. They always felt cartoony to me with a dose of the kind of slapstick humor you find in those cheaply made zombie flicks. The silly monster names speak for themselves. The games were 100% about the fun and not the scare factor.

You did encounter The Butcher I assume? The first time I encountered that guy he freaked me out as well.

JDR13 said:

Add me to the list of people who found Diablo more memorable than D2.

D2 may have been a much deeper game, but the atmosphere just wasn't there for me in the single-player.

And that Tristam theme… still one of the most memorable tracks I've ever heard in a PC game.

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Yep, one of the best audio experiences in a computer game ever. Fallout sticks out to me as well.

The Butcher freaked me out since he was so deadly. Of course, the D1 darker atmosphere added to the creepiness.

All this talk of D1 is making me want to play it again. Does it work on modern computers? For some reason I don't see Blizzard putting it on GOG anytime soon.

I played on Win 2K a few years back with no issues.