Diablo 3 - Mike Morhaime Open Letter

Blizzard President Mike Morhaime has posted an open letter to the Diablo III community, explaining some of the challenges they have faced and their future plans. It's a lengthy post, so here's a sample:

You’ve seen some of that work already in patch 1.0.3, and you’ll see additional improvements with patch 1.0.4. On the game balance front, this update will contain changes designed to further deliver on the team’s goal of promoting “build diversity,” with buffs to many rarely used, underpowered class abilities. Another topic we’ve seen actively discussed is the fact that better, more distinct Legendary items are needed. We agree. Patch 1.0.4 will also include new and improved Legendary items that are more interesting, more powerful, and more epic in ways you probably won’t be expecting.
We’re also working on a number of interface updates, including social improvements that will allow players to more easily view their friends’ achievements, more quickly join games, and more efficiently communicate with each other. In addition, we’ll be making updates to the auction house in the future to provide players with better information through tooltips and notices, offer improved search functionality, and more.

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More information.

i've gotten to almost act 3 on nightmare. its fun but just doesnt have the soul that diablo 2 had. i could easily just go back to diablo 2 and pretend part 3 never existed.

Too late for me, the game just didn't have anything that made me feel like I was having fun.... I've gone back to playing Torchlight again and the difference is remarkable!

Never played any of the Diablos for some reason. I really liked Titan Quest, thought Sacred 1 was okay, Sacred 2 was worse, and couldn't get into Dungeon Siege 3 at all. Any chance I'd like Diablo 3? What are other good games of this ilk? I loved Dungeon Siege 2, but 3 seemed a step back.

Got 1 character through normal and started nightmare and it occurred to me that the prospect of playing anymore was just depressing. On the other hand, played the hell out of D2. I understand their theory behind removing skill trees, but without even that level of character development, I felt no sense of involvement. Repetitive action and item scrounging just aint enough for me.

dagoo7 said:

Got 1 character through normal and started nightmare and it occurred to me that the prospect of playing anymore was just depressing. On the other hand, played the hell out of D2. I understand their theory behind removing skill trees, but without even that level of character development, I felt no sense of involvement. Repetitive action and item scrounging just aint enough for me.

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This was totally my feeling. It was such a pointless game with almost no involvement. I had zero connection or attachment to my character.

crpgnut said:

I loved Dungeon Siege 2, but 3 seemed a step back.

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diablo 3 is somewhat similar in that it isn't really a step forward from diablo 2. playing diablo 3 it feels more like a titan quest 2 than what diablo 3 should have progressed towards. that's not saying it as much as a change as DS2 to 3 was (i still somewhat enjoyed 3 but would have preferred more openness to the environments).

i've actually gone back to playing diablo 2 while i wait for torchlight 2. haven't had a run through of D2 for a few years and am really enjoying it again - the extra item systems like runes make a huge difference to gameplay options.

wolfgrimdark said:

This was totally my feeling. It was such a pointless game with almost no involvement. I had zero connection or attachment to my character.

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After the beta I couldn't even justify buying D3 with their lack of an interesting skill system. I did buy, and quickly lost interest in, The Secret World, which has 7 active and 7 passive abilities. It just isn't enough. I know, with the changes to WoWs talent system in Pandara, I am stearing clear of that as well.

I think, or a hope, the people who play crpgs like building characters. I think a big draw of D2 is the skill trees. The same with DivDiv. Titan Quest had very involved trees and builds too.

No matter how much significance you place on a few choices, it still ends up being just a few choices. If D3 had an extremely strong narrative Like ME or Dues Ex it could probably have a gutted character system with a few "significant" choices and people would still be satisfied.

By the time I was doing act 3 inferno, I was spending more time on the auction house looking for bargains than actually playing the game. That pretty much put an end to my D3 playing, though I'm likely to play some more at some point. Probably next year.

Whoa, Legendary items soon to be more epic! How have I resisted your siren call so long, Diablo 3?!

crpgnut said:

Never played any of the Diablos for some reason. I really liked Titan Quest, thought Sacred 1 was okay, Sacred 2 was worse, and couldn't get into Dungeon Siege 3 at all. Any chance I'd like Diablo 3? What are other good games of this ilk? I loved Dungeon Siege 2, but 3 seemed a step back.

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Divine Divinity is fun because it's actually an RPG in addition to being a Diablo-clone.

killias2 said:

Divine Divinity is fun because it's actually an RPG in addition to being a Diablo-clone.

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another bump fro Divine Divinity, it reminds me alot of ultima 7 also.

cptbarkey said:

another bump fro Divine Divinity, it reminds me alot of ultima 7 also.

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Divine Divinity again. Bump.

Lemonhead said:

Divine Divinity again. Bump.

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A bump for Divine Divinity.

I had fun with D3 even though the loot drops are horrendous. Quit at Act I Inferno, just couldn't do it any longer but it was fun while it lasted.

Picked up beta access to Path of Exile and haven't even thought of D3 since. The game is nowhere near finished but it's way more in line with the action game I was hoping D3 would be. I hope they do very well when they release it.

arthureloi said:

A bump for Divine Divinity.

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And another! I never played DD, only its successors - just started - its great fun, and much more engrossing than Diablo (have no interest in D3)

booboo said:

And another! I never played DD, only its successors - just started - its great fun, and much more engrossing than Diablo (have no interest in D3)

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Really no point in comparing the two. Apples and oranges at the core of their design philosophies. Just bought DD again (3rd time!) on the Steam sale just to have it in that library and get the 16:10 resolution without digging out my old copies and patching them. Worth the $4, easy. Played it a few hours and still feel the magic.

Having said that, still enjoying D3 as well. Only in Nightmare Act III and having fun, particularly enjoying the increased challenge of NM. Also enjoying the occasional group sessions with my buds. Even got them to start a hardcore party with me. Yes, itemization sucks, but not enough to kill the joy for me yet...

I have played all the way through inferno difficulty and for those who havent or have not played D3 at all, here's the honest truth.

During the first week, insanely godly drops were found. Auction house prices were reasonable, and a number of people progressed. Then the real-money AH arrived, and suddenly nothing worthwhile was on the gold AH. Apparently, rich people without the 'time to play' their game found time to play after spending thousands of RL dollars to gear up.

Then the good items stopped dropping.

The prices on both AH's skyrocketed. You could find top tier items for 300m to ONE BILLION GOLD, and anything worth a damn was on the rmah for 250 dollars USD.

During this time, Blizzard tinkered with drop rates twice, but while they showed how high item level drops were increased, those items had reduced stats. So, you'd loot max ilevel gear but their stats sucked so it didnt matter. And we're still there today.

Basically, its been one manipulation after another to create a need to use the rmah. I guess selling 6.5 million copies at 60 bucks a pop wasnt enough for blizz. They frustrate their players now, making them farm for weeks to get nothing ultimately having to turn to the rmah (since they nerfed coin drops from barrels, chests, and breakables and then made item drops worthless) just to get to the end of a game that has no edngame, even by their own admission.

Its not so much a problem that it doesnt feel like D2 or that there are no skill trees -its that you're walled in by blizzard so that only one avenue remains and it leads straight to their wallets. Low blow, Blizz.

... and in the meantime they've acknowledged that always-online was always also meant as an DRM.
They are greedy evil fuckers lessening the fun of their product, so people are pushed to push more money to them.

Daddy32 said:

They are greedy evil fuckers lessening the fun of their product, so people are pushed to push more money to them.

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In what way are people pushed to spend more money? I've not spent a penny more than my initial purchase £20, and have had a great deal of enjoyment from the game so it has already been worth it.