Diablo 3 - Updates @ Official Site

[magerette]

Blizzard's official site for their long awaited action rpg sequel, Diablo 3, is sporting some new concept art, several new screens and a bestiary entry on the Unburied. If you haven't checked out the character classes announced so far, the first three out of five, Barbarian, Wizard, and Witch Doctor, are also on view.
More information.

 

[TheMadGamer]

New art concepts? Quickly, everyone! Gather your pitchforks and keyboards. Let's make and sign a new 'we hate the art' petition!!!! Doesn't even matter if you've seen it or not. Doesn't even matter if you care.

*whails while maniacally flailing both arms and disappears into the distance*

 

[Eron]

To be honest.. This creature looks kinda dull..

And the fact there are dozens scattered about all looking exactly the same..

I dunno.. I love Diablo.. and it's only one monster....

But the graphics up close do look kinda ... wowish,...

 

[Krzychu]

Art? Who cares about art? I'm still angry about the auto-level up!

Anyway, no point in getting too hyped or angry at this point, since the game won't even be released this year.

 

[Arhu]

Art? Who cares about art? I'm still angry about the auto-level up!

As someone who reads info on D3 only in passing, I have to ask: auto-level up? Please elaborate.

 

[Krzychu]

Well, Blizz said that in D3 the stat points you get when you level-up will be assigned automatically, supposedly basing on the character class.

To me, that is one of the most "what the hell?!" decisions in the history of gaming, but somehow I'm still looking forward to the game... for now.

 

[danutz_plusplus]

As someone who reads info on D3 only in passing, I have to ask: auto-level up? Please elaborate.

You won't be able to assign stat points anymore. You know, put points in strength, dexterity, etc. Which is fine by me as that wasn't really a great way to customize my character. I always followed a certain formula for stat-allocation, and it didn't add anything to the game. But they promised to add better ways of customizing your character. Among which the new rune-system sounds amazing. Being able to customize your skills using randomly dropped runes sounds really cool.

To me, that is one of the most "what the hell?!" decisions in the history of gaming, but somehow I'm still looking forward to the game... for now.

It worked good in WoW, so I'm not worried. If the points had some serious consequence in the game, not just add +1 hp or +1 attack rating, then yeah I would agree that stat points should be allowed. But otherwise I don't see why. If they will deliver on the promise of bringing more and better ways to customize I'm all for it.

 

[Krzychu]

Well, I haven't played WoW, and so far Blizzard just hasn't convinced me that this is a good idea. So I am extremely worried about this. And I will probably remain unconvinced until the day that D3 ships, and then maybe I will say "WoW, this really works.", but so far...

 

[Arhu]

Well, Blizz said that in D3 the stat points you get when you level-up will be assigned automatically, supposedly basing on the character class.

Ah.. Well, I don't think that's too bad. You still get to customize your character through talent trees or something like that, don't you?

 

[Krzychu]

Talent trees... hm, I think so, but I'm not sure. And maybe it won't be bad, if...

If they will deliver on the promise of bringing more and better ways to customize

the character, but I'm skeptical for now. It's just that I don't see a reason why they should force this auto-assign on me, and some of the arguments for it sounded like nonsense to me. Why can't they make an optional "recommended" button instead?

Anyway, as to the updates, the Unburied creature sounds like a tough one from the description, and there's this screenshot with seven of them on screen. Heh, but I suppose that's normal for this game... to be surrounded by packs of not-so-weak enemies, that is.

 

[DArtagnan]

The reason they're removing manual stat assignment, is the same reason they're going for the WoW style cartoony atmosphere.

They're maximising their target audience - and anything getting in the way of that will be removed, as long as they perceive it as a potential significant influence. Manual stat assignment is an unnecessary complexity - just like traits were an unneeded complexity in Fallout 3. I couldn't disagree more, but there it is.

Taken individually, each little feature might seem pointless or even redundant - but the process of streamlining can quickly grow blind, and sooner or later you end up with Dungeon Siege. Not that I think Blizzard are that far gone - but the principle is the same.

I expect a very flexible talent tree system, with full re-assignment at will. There won't be any unneeded experimentation getting in the way of streamlined fun.

 

[Reyla]

The reason they're removing manual stat assignment, is the same reason they're going for the WoW style cartoony atmosphere.

They're maximising their target audience - and anything getting in the way of that will be removed, as long as they perceive it as a potential significant influence. Manual stat assignment is an unnecessary complexity - just like traits were an unneeded complexity in Fallout 3. I couldn't disagree more, but there it is.

You are completely misinformed.

The removal of STR DEX VIT and ENG point assignment has nothing to do with what you think. It has to do with what did not work in Diablo 2 exclusively. It is a simple change of game mechanics from Diablo 2 to Diablo 3. Anyone and everyone who has played or worked on the Diablo series understands this even if you do not.

There is no conspiracy.

 

[DArtagnan]

You are completely misinformed.

The removal of STR DEX VIT and ENG point assignment has nothing to do with what you think. It has to do with what did not work in Diablo 2 exclusively. It is a simple change of game mechanics from Diablo 2 to Diablo 3. Anyone and everyone who has played or worked on the Diablo series understands this even if you do not.

There is no conspiracy.

What conspiracy are you referring to?

I don't blame Blizzard for wanting more people to play their games, but I see no reason to ignore what's right in front of my face because they managed to convince you it was a failure in Diablo 2. The core of the Diablo 2 team doesn't even work there anymore.

I'm sure Bethesda convinced you that traits were superfluous in Fallout as well, but I don't agree.

I've played Diablo and Diablo 2 more than most, and in the first one the ability to assign stats was pretty much it for character customization. For Diablo 2 - it was an extra layer that added to the replay value and was a source of entertainment for people who like to powergame or experiment with flavor to their builds.

I'm sorry, but you fail utterly to convince.

 

[Thaurin]

I'm sorry that you are one of those very few people playing games today who isn't happy with the way game developers are moving their designs and mechanics. Really, I am.

I, however, think I will not be bothered by this change so much. If I remember correctly (and my experience with Diablo 2 isn't very noteworthy), the stats were mostly chosen for what items you wanted to use, as the most important boost to skills came from +skill on them. Really, are there was to it, I think, was assigning your stats the right way and the wrong way. If it's going to be a choice between having a functional character and a gimped one, I don't really care if stat assignment is taken out.

At the least, I don't believe that they base these decisions on "maximizing their target audience," anyway.

 

[Arhu]

Really, are there was to it, I think, was assigning your stats the right way and the wrong way. If it's going to be a choice between having a functional character and a gimped one, I don't really care if stat assignment is taken out.

The same could be said for talents too, or any other thing you can modify yourself. What I think they might be doing though is to cut some parts out but provide other features to replace them. Complexity should stay about the same. If that's the case, I don't mind either.

 

[chamr]

What I don't get is if you're going to auto-assign the stats for me, why even have them in the game anymore? If it's just to limit what loot you can use like in D2 but take away any interaction you have with the mechanic, seems a pretty weak way to do it.

On a different topic, one thing I wish they'd do is put in a monster appearance randomization feature that adds significant variation from model to model for each monster type. It may sound silly, but when you're spending hours on a game where you're killing tons and tons of the same type of monster over and over, a little variation goes a long way. And along the same lines, I really hope they finally put to rest the old old trick of changing the color palette of a given model and calling it a new monster type.

 

[kalniel]

What I don't get is if you're going to auto-assign the stats for me, why even have them in the game anymore?

Presumably they're part of class selection - ie barbarians will be stronger and tougher than wizards - the stats are just the way of defining that difference in numerical form. As you level up they become even stronger and tougher, hence the increase in stats.

Makes sense to me. Play style can be differentiated by talent/skill/feat/item/whatever selection.

 

[Maylander]

The way it works in WoW:
The base stats of a character is static, depending on class/level. However, you can customize these stats by picking up items that enhances stats (i.e use a plate helmet that increases Strength). The whole idea is to use the right gear to get whatever stats you think is optimal.

I assume we'll see something similar in Diablo 3. I have no issues with such a system, and feel that it works just as well as the system in D2 (I always just saved all my stat points and used them whenever a gear upgrade required higher stats).

 

[booboo]

I'm sorry that you are one of those very few people playing games today who isn't happy with the way game developers are moving their designs and mechanics. Really, I am.

I, however, think I will not be bothered by this change so much.....

You can add me to the "very few" who don't enjoy the way in which things are moving. I like assigning stats and tweaking things - many people who come from a PnP background do (look at the weird character build people area always trying out on RPG forums). So far it looks like Diablo 3 = WoW + Diablo 2 ... which is not something that appeals o me at all. (not that I was was a fan of the series anyway, although I did play both).

 

[Krzychu]

And along the same lines, I really hope they finally put to rest the old old trick of changing the color palette of a given model and calling it a new monster type.

Heh. Somehow I wouldn't count on it.

Makes sense to me. Play style can be differentiated by talent/skill/feat/item/whatever selection.

Yes, but it can be differentiated *additionally* by manual stat-assigning. So why remove it?

I don't really believe that it's to make the game available to a wider audience, because... seriously - how more casual can a game get? I just don't buy/can't understand one argument I heard, which stated that they're going for the auto-assign because people "didn't know where to put their stat points" - although I'm not sure if that was Blizzard's statement, or was it just people defending the idea. But was Diablo 2 complex? No. The game basically *told you* where to put your stats. You play as a Barbarian, and find a cool sword, but don't have enough strenght to use it - what do you do? You play as a Sorceress, and notice that you run out of mana too quickly - what do you do? Of course, your first few chars will be imperfect, but it's possible to beat the game with a pretty messed up character.

Hm, you know, I think I can understand the argument that stats didn't influence anything *that* much, so it's not a big loss anyway... well, let's hope so.

Thinking about this now, I think that, maybe, the only reason for this is that they just wanted to change something, anything.

*looks at thread* Uh. Sorry for sort of causing all this off-topic discussion.