Diablo 3 - What We Want From the Diablo III Expansion

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IGN - What We Want From the Diablo III Expansion

IGN freelance writer Anthony Agnello wrote an article on Daiblo 3, and what he would like to see in it's expansion.
An Auction House-free Diablo 3 on PC certainly sounds like the dream version of the game. Rather than a delicious, engaging adventure that yielded the best rewards as its difficulty scaled, the biggest problem with Diablo 3 was how the Auction House drove all of the game's long-term systems. The very best loot didn't drop regularly enough for even the most diligent player, so they were forced to farm gold or pay out actual cash for the gear they wanted. This reliance on the Auction House even crippled the game's campaign, and Blizzard's known it since the game released. While the new crafting system was brought in to “refocus players away from farming the Auction House and onto farming monsters,” it's still only a half step.

According to Blizzard, even though the upcoming PlayStation 3/4 version will skip the Auction House, it's staying in the PC game. Director Jay Wilson, who left the game to work on other projects in January, said at GDC that Auction House was a bad call all along. “It's not good for a game like Diablo,” said Wilson, “It doesn't feel good to get items for money, it feels good to get items by killing monsters.” But it can't do it since roughly a million players are still playing the game every day and there's no easy way to completely excise the Auction House from the game. An expansion like Lords of Destruction, essentially being a whole new version of the game, could fix the problem.

The same is true of removing Internet connection requirements. Sony actually confirmed back in February that its version of the game can be played offline and Blizzard backed up the claim shortly thereafter. Since the game won't be played via Blizzard's Battle.net network and won't have the Auction Houses to go along with it, it make sense that the consolized Diablo 3 can be played offline. There are plenty of unofficial ways to trick Diablo 3 into letting PC players take on the campaign offline as well. Solutions were showing up in the official forums within weeks of its release.

As with the Auction Houses, though, it seem that only a completely different version will bring offline play to Diablo 3 on PC. A message from Morhaime delivered to players last July put the kibosh on an offline solo mode through patch updates. “I fully understand the desire to play Diablo III offline,” said Morhaime, “However, Diablo III was designed from the beginning to be an online game that can be enjoyed with friends, and the always-online requirement is the best way for us to support that design.”
More information.
 
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What "we" want? He didn't even mention the craptastic "skill" system and removal of skill/talent trees.
 
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I've no intention of getting D3 but it surprises me that an offline mode seems relatively easy to achieve for Sony yet impossible so far (afaik) for the piracy guys. Hate all you may on D3 but it's protection system seems to have worked.
 
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Director Jay Wilson, who left the game to work on other projects in January, said at GDC that Auction House was a bad call all along. “It's not good for a game like Diablo,” said Wilson, “It doesn't feel good to get items for money, it feels good to get items by killing monsters.”

No shit, Jay. It's just too bad you weren't warned by a million upset fans, well in advance.
 
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I don't understand that - if you don't like auction house, don't use auction house. It's like oblivion's fast travel feud all over again. Don't use it if you don't like it - problem solved.
 
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It makes it more difficult with a cooperative game. Even worse if they ever add a PvP mode. In addition, they probably rebalanced the game through patches to deal with the fact that practically everyone used the auction houses. The auction houses have an effect even if you don't use it.
 
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1. Skill/talent system making the game replayable with the same class.

2. Item system that makes weapons not only perform differently - but feel UNIQUE. In fact, the entire item system should be reworked. Look at Borderlands 2 and Hellgate for how to handle weapons and items. Get rid of the awful stat-based power curve, and make items cool and interesting. Drop a LOT less crap - and make most drops desirable in one way or another.

3. Introduce runewords again for items.

4. Expanded PvP options.

5. New classes - at least 2. I'd like a stealth/assassin class (though DH might be too close to this) - and a new magic class is probably called for.

6. New areas with a LOT more dynamic quest content.

7. Expanded crafting system - making it feel like a meaningful alternate avenue of gameplay - instead of the mostly redundant crap it is now.

8. Optional no-AH mode for characters - though I don't care personally. The basic functionality difference would be about drop rate. In no-AH mode - drop rates should change to reflect that you don't have access to zillions of items on the AH.
 
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I don't understand that - if you don't like auction house, don't use auction house. It's like oblivion's fast travel feud all over again. Don't use it if you don't like it - problem solved.

Yeah, especially when the drop rate is tied into the auction house - making the finding of the best items all but impossible. Forcing you to use the AH unless you want to suck or grind forever.

Also, it's great to PvP with people who bought their way to power - when you didn't.

Think about these things for a minute.
 
The game sucks, as i have preordered it I'm ashamed that i played it only a few hours. But i can't enjoy it!!!!!!!!!!!!

Worst deal i ever did.
 
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Rather than a delicious, engaging adventure that yielded the best rewards as its difficulty scaled, the biggest problem with Diablo 3 was how the Auction House drove all of the game's long-term systems. The very best loot didn't drop regularly enough for even the most diligent player, so they were forced to farm gold or pay out actual cash for the gear they wanted. This reliance on the Auction House even crippled the game's campaign
Sorry, I don't get where all this supposed reliance on the auction house comes from. I finished the game (completed inferno) without touching either auction house, trading with another player, or even getting help from another player. It was just my demon huntress and templar and any items I found/crafted/bought from NPC merchants along the way. And I'm very far from a skilled player.
 
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Well the balance of the game has changed a lot since most of us played. Even when the game came out you could easily complete the game through hell without touching the AH, but inferno was another matter. A lot has changed since then however, and I suspect that most of us are not up on many of those changes.

Sorry, I don't get where all this supposed reliance on the auction house comes from. I finished the game (completed inferno) without touching either auction house, trading with another player, or even getting help from another player. It was just my demon huntress and templar and any items I found/crafted/bought from NPC merchants along the way. And I'm very far from a skilled player.
 
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Indeed, base inferno mobs now twice as weak then they were during release. So now you can complete the game on all difficulty levels without ever touching AH.
For me AH is just a shortcut to the top gear tier, where you can have most fun and take on most challenging content.
 
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- removed facilitated cheating (RMAH)
- removed cheapening of the game (AH)
- remove forced online (for a single player game)

I won't even consider playing the game with those 3 in, so unless the expansion ditches them, any other discussions about game systems are moot
 
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DArtagnan summed it up pretty nicely, also, the 'non-ah mode' could be a ladder system similar to the one that LoD introduced, I feel that a system where the economy gets reset every now and then is very much needed.

In my opinion - the most important thing would be the addition of stats/talents that you cannot reset (or make it so that it requires a very rare item every time) letting the players experiment with all kinds of builds, would be a huge incentive for me to keep playing the game. Right now there is zero.
 
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Indeed, base inferno mobs now twice as weak then they were during release. So now you can complete the game on all difficulty levels without ever touching AH.
For me AH is just a shortcut to the top gear tier, where you can have most fun and take on most challenging content.

So would you say that, after a few patches, they've got the game about right then? (With respect to mob difficulties and making the AH purely optional/a shortcut). Most games do take a bit of tweaking/patching to be most enjoyable, and I wouldn't have thought Blizzard are exempt from that (despite providing a very polished game out of the box).

I've been playing since release date, and didn't hit any brick wall, but then I didn't have a lot of time to play so it could be that they balanced it correctly by the time I got to inferno etc.
 
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Demon Hunter was specifically considered overpowered with the right choice of skills. With the right combination of escape skills and runes - he was near invincible under the right circumstances.

Youtube was full of middling DH players defeating Inferno - and they were among the first to do so.

So, that's pretty useless as an example.

All other classes - especially Monk and Witch Doctor - had SEVERE difficulties with Inferno without some really good gear.

Sure, you could potentially grind your way to that gear - but it would take a VERY LONG time - unless you were incredibly lucky.

Making the auction house all but mandatory for Inferno.
 
I haven't played Diablo 3, though I might pick up the Sony version down the line, if it can be played offline on the PS3. I have rather fond memories of the previous Diablos, but I always found the idea that you should replay the same game with the same character att a higher level really stupid. I have only fallen for it once, in Titan Quest, where I somehow succumbed to addiction and tried to collect complete armor sets. Never again. So, I don't care about Inferno difficulty or "end game", since I would probably only bother to play through the thing once.
 
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There's no "you should" - it's just an option for people who enjoy the gameplay sufficiently to continue with a higher challenge.
 
Demon Hunter was specifically considered overpowered with the right choice of skills. With the right combination of escape skills and runes - he was near invincible under the right circumstances.

Youtube was full of middling DH players defeating Inferno - and they were among the first to do so.

So, that's pretty useless as an example.
Except I didn't use those over-powered skills - just didn't fit my play style. Maybe still over powered regardless, throughout all the time from release till now? Could be. I'm also not having any brick wall moments with my barbarian, wizard or monk.

Sure, you could potentially grind your way to that gear - but it would take a VERY LONG time - unless you were incredibly lucky.

Making the auction house all but mandatory for Inferno.
I certainly don't grind for gear, nor have I been especially lucky as far as I know. Nicest item is a bow for the DH with over 1000 dps, (calamity). No other legendaries for this character, no set items etc.
 
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Except I didn't use those over-powered skills - just didn't fit my play style. Maybe still over powered regardless, throughout all the time from release till now? Could be. I'm also not having any brick wall moments with my barbarian, wizard or monk.

Maybe you didn't - but that was still the case.

One thing I know is that Inferno required top-end gear - almost no matter what.

There's no way you played a Demon Hunter without top-end gear and didn't hit a brick wall in "release" Inferno - unless you used those skills, or maybe you're just a godlike player and I don't know it.

I certainly don't grind for gear, nor have I been especially lucky as far as I know. Nicest item is a bow for the DH with over 1000 dps, (calamity). No other legendaries for this character, no set items etc.

Then my conclusion is that you didn't make Inferno until after the most significant balance changes.

Today, it's completely different - and if you don't scale difficulty - I'd argue it's pretty easy with middling gear.

But the auction house is still mandatory if you want top-end gear - and most players will want that for obvious reasons.
 
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