Diablo 3 - Even More Class Videos

The Diablo III site has new Class videos on offer:

Doing battle with the Burning Hells means fighting fire with fire, and this week’s videos are all about destruction. We’ve got skills to tear through demonic invaders with summoned zombies and locusts, pepper them with knives and arrows, warp their minds, blow their bodies apart, and more.

More information.

I haven't played the first 2, but the idea sounds a bit boring - you kill a wave of mobs after a wave without having a real story. Sounds like a dumbed down version of DA II, if that's even possible.

Overall, I think most would agree in terms of pure "fun factor", Diablo games are #1. The replay value is incredible, making it a great value for any limited gaming budget.

Originally Posted by Edgarstrong
a dumbed down version of DA II, if that's even possible.

Have you even played any RPG in the last 15 years? O.o

Originally Posted by zz
Overall, I think most would agree in terms of pure "fun factor", Diablo games are #1.

Er… no.

Originally Posted by JDR13
Er… no.

If sales are an indication he is perfectly right.

Originally Posted by Sir_Brennus
If sales are an indication he is perfectly right.

Don't even get me started…

To be honest, I'm not sure it'll outsell Skyrim. Skyrim really did extremely well. I wouldn't be surprised if it's the most successful RPG ever.

Well, I'll represent one sale

Skyrim is multi-platform while Diablo 3 (at least for now) is PC only. As a result it's unlikely that Diablo 3 will outsell Skyrim, at least in the short term.

Comparing their PC sales would be more interesting, although it can be hard to find official numbers. I know that in 2001, Diablo 2 sold 4 million copies, and it continued to make record sales for years beyond that. I'd anticipate higher numbers for Diablo 3.

Originally Posted by Maylander
To be honest, I'm not sure it'll outsell Skyrim. Skyrim really did extremely well. I wouldn't be surprised if it's the most successful RPG ever.

AFAIK, Skyrim is the best selling singeplayer PC RPG in existence.

Why must it exceed Skyrim?

It doesn't look like Blizzard is bringing much new or better to the action genre with Diablo III. Whereas Skyrim's x10 immersion was a big part of it's popularity, I think. I predict Diablo won't be as popular on the PC. And, no, I haven't played the beta…

The skill system is new, the RMAH is new, and the online implementation is new.

I'm not sure what immersion has to do with being "new" - but whatever.

Maybe I don't get this obsession with comparing big things. D3 is going to be massively popular - I guarentee it. But why must it be "more" than Skyrim - and why do we care?

Because market success is what drives the direction of most of the resources for future development. Markets vs. intellectualism.

It really doesn't matter, except for pissing contests between the fans of the two games. If D3 is the mega-hit that most people expect, then it will influence the market regardless of whether it's a bigger mega-hit then Skyrim or not.

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
AFAIK, Skyrim is the best selling singeplayer PC RPG in existence.

Why must it exceed Skyrim?

Originally Posted by Thrasher
It doesn't look like Blizzard is bringing much new or better to the action genre with Diablo III. Whereas Skyrim's x10 immersion was a big part of it's popularity, I think. I predict Diablo won't be as popular on the PC. And, no, I haven't played the beta…

In the long run I think it's possible that Diablo 3 will outsell Skyrim, at least on the PC. When the console release finally happens, they may get close to Skyrim's total sales, if not surpass them. I think the Diablo brand is that marketable. I could be wrong of course, we'll see. For myself, watching some gameplay from the Diablo 3 beta may make me buy a copy, and I'm not even a PC gamer…

In terms of being immersive, I feel the Diablo series is just as immersive as any good RPG though. With it's intricate loot system, deep character advancement and atmospheric dungeon diving. The advancement system especially is great in the Diablo games, and one can get wholly immersed just in the character advancement and loot alone. I have very fond memories of Diablo on the PS1 for those reasons. The quests and enemies were pretty cool too. Hell, I'm excited for it and like I said, not even a PC gamer. I may make an exception though come May 15…

Is there any game you are not excited about?

Anyway, the Diablo formula seems stale. They removed much of the innovative gameplay elements in the latest rev, and you're not left with much that's different from D2.

Originally Posted by Thrasher
Is there any game you are not excited about?

Anyway, the Diablo formula seems stale. They removed much of the innovative gameplay elements in the latest rev, and you're not left with much that's different from D2.

I haven't been paying close enough attention to the game, but if they are following the same formula as Diablo 2, I don't think that would be a bad thing. It doesn't have to be a revolutionary game, it just has to be a good Diablo game. People expect tons of loot, interesting character advancement and some cool beasts to slay. If Diablo 3 delivers that I think people will be happy. I definitely don't think the formula is stale. The formula has only properly been done in 2 previous games, that's not a very long series. Of course, the formula has been ripped off by countless other games, so maybe in that respect it's getting a bit stale. But I still look forward to the "originators" of the formula to put their best foot forward, and I think that's going to happen with Diablo 3. This game has been what, 10 years in the making? Longer?

As for games I'm not excited for, my excitement for Risen 2 has been ebb and flowing lately. Currently it's pretty low. I'm more excited for Dragon's Dogma and Diablo 3 at this point. I'll probably pick up Risen 2 when it drops in price…

At least Titan Quest allowed you to pick two specializations. That was somewhat innovative. Being able to respec you character in D3 at a whim I predict will kill the longevity and motivation for long plays. We will see.

Having a tremendous number of options but adding in the ability to freely switch between them is definitely a risk that Blizzard is taking. We may decide that we love it and that all games should be like that, or we may decide that it's awful and that the traditional skill tree is traditional for a reason. But at least they are taking a chance on something different.

I do notice that the two most common complaints about D3 are that it's

A) Not changing anything at all
or
B) Changing everything that they ever loved about Diablo.