Diablo 3 - No More Mana

Omega pointed out that the twitter channel of Diablo 3 had a tweet today that the devs are considering to give each class its own resource system instead of everyone using mana, which would probably mean a big change to the Diablo community.
More information.

I don't really think that will mean there won't be mana but instead mana will be restricted to magic instead of being used for combat abilities which makes sense. Instead stamina or some other system could be used for combat abilities.

That's good news. They already had a different system for the barbarian, and the monk needs a new system too. So very good news.

It's probably silly to talk about these things so far in advance of seeing how it turns out, but I don't like this news for what it implies about itemization. If instead of mana there are individual resource systems, does that mean that items just aren't going to be as universal in the new game?

Diablo II had class-specific items, but only one slot's worth per class. And +mana could come in any slot. With custom resources, I wonder if this means there will be much more class-specific loot, like say WoW for exapmle. Diablo II and WoW are really opposites when it comes to itemization, and I think Diablo II nailed it. I love the fact that there was such a wide variety of items (the vast majority usable by any class that met the reqs) and that two builds for the same class would end up with COMPLETELY different gear.

In WoW, on the other hand, everyone pretty much looks the same as everyone else in the same class. The ONLY overlap is in the occasional weapon which might be sought out by member of 2 or 3 classes. Boooooring.

Sounds fine to me as long as it plays well. I look forward to playing Diablo III Forever.

Yeesh said:

[...]when it comes to itemization, and I think Diablo II nailed it. I love the fact that there was such a wide variety of items (the vast majority usable by any class that met the reqs) and that two builds for the same class would end up with COMPLETELY different gear.

In WoW, on the other hand, everyone pretty much looks the same as everyone else in the same class. The ONLY overlap is in the occasional weapon which might be sought out by member of 2 or 3 classes. Boooooring.

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I agree. I of course understand the logic behind their reasoning, but I don't like it. To be honest I actually think Diablo 1 had it nailed even better than Diablo 2.

Good points Yeesh. I hope this isn't a dumbingdown/simplification ala WoW....

Thrasher said:

Good points Yeesh. I hope this isn't a dumbingdown/simplification ala WoW….

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Actually it's more of a "dumbingup", giving each class its own source of energy. Not sure I see any benefit of doing it, unless there are hybrid classes that have several sources of energy, and can manage using powers of one class if the source for the other class is empty.

Yes, but if it moves item use so that everything is class specific, then it may remove flexibility and options and makes character development more railroaded. Fewer options for me means dumbed down.