Diablo 3

I know this blog is primarily Eve-centric, but I am a big Diablo fan. (Hardcore only player, at one point I had 3 accounts of guardians, where hell difficulty Bhaal was defeated. I ‘quit’ before v1.10 that introduced skill synergies was released.)

I am excited about the possibility of D3 being released late next year. I haven’t delved too far into the details thrown around the ‘net, as I already know I’m going to buy and play the game when it’s released.

My D2 characters I enjoyed the most include:

=Mega Tank Barbarian- he had 85% resists and maximum physical resist in hell, plus a TON of hp. (shael’d perfect Lightsaber for Beserk) Earned by lvl96 HC PVP amazon ear. He was the highest lvl toon I got, lvl 96. (I never had 99 as a goal, I usually stopped around 85 or so.) He could tank almost all the cows, including the king for the dps crew to work them down.

=’Daisy bomb’ nova sorceress

=Speed Werewolf – fastest possible scythe with shael. This toon would run so fast that you’d get game lag where the game would have to load while you were running. He never got hit, due to his insane attack speed.

=Minion-mancer- having tons of minions may get boring, but never gets old.

=Combat Assassin- she was fun to play, but I can’t say I ever played/built her really well.

=Meteor sorceress- My first guardian. She was one of the first fifty guardians on uswest b.net but skill changes ‘killed’ her playability. (Static, blizzard nerf)

=mf barb- I was able to pick up a set sazabi (sp?) blade off of a hell Bhaal run, and built this toon around that blade. Leap attack, berserk, resistance, Battle Orders, mf. Hell Mesphisto would die in 2-3 hits, literally. I kept track of how many ‘runs’ I could have him do in an hour… record was 18. That include loading the map, checking the loot, and avoiding ‘bad’ critters. I never used map-hack.



Things that have me interested in D3:

=Caravan/crafters that follow you. If implemented well, (Blizzard, duh), this could be an incredible addition to the genre.

=scrapping / modifying gear. Having ‘unique’ gear being ‘better’ than rares killed the game for me… everyone eventually looked the same. Customization was boring too, just ‘plan’ your unique items for the toon you want to build.

=Health/Mana orbs: this could really improve gameplay.

=Destructible object: Hello tactical improvements



Things that I want to see:

=Hardcore mode: The ‘edge’ you get playing HC is unlike anything else. Each fight has meaning. Either have HC or a severe death penalty. (Eve)

=skill respect: This will reduce some of the amount of times I replay a class, but will increase my enjoyment of the game. Make the cost increase exponentially if wanted.. just have an option.

=character improvement customization: WoW got boring near the end of TBC, due to all the clones running around raiding. Same gear, same spec, same bosses. Bleh.

=No PvP. This may seem weird, but the reason I want no PvP is to have developer talent focused on PvE balancing, gear, content. Either go all PvP or all PvE. I know it’ll realistically have both, because people will want to ‘fight’. If you’re going to do that, have some random creatures thrown in the fray too… (Guildwars guild fights).

=Keep me coming back: alternative characters, map experiences, REALLY HARD BOSSES ([u]really[/u] tough; like ‘omg’ tough, where you need to play multiple times to obtain the proper gear to defeat on highest difficulty. ps: this doesn’t have to be Diablo himself..)

=easy inventory management: don’t make me play inventory Tetris again. Learn from Dungeon Siege and Titan Quest.
Things that make me nervous:

=dupes. Please no. I’ll pay a monthly fee. Just keep on top of this blight.

=cookie cutter playing. If you roll a witch doctor you need to A, because the other options really stink. Ugh. I hope not.

=High levels PKing low levels. Hope not.

=Boosting. I hate it. Despise it. It removes SO much of any game, because people just want to play the ‘best’ areas, and refuse to play elsewhere. Very annoying, don’t let it happen. I used to hostile low level toons in hell difficulty; just because it annoyed me that they bullshitted through the game so obviously. Minimum/Maximum level requirements to enter an area would go a long way to solving this.

=Shared stash. It removes so much logistics burden. It made Titan Quest immensely fun.

=stash: Make it big. I don’t think you want me to have an account of mules, do you? HC toons take 3-5x the gear due to death potential. Shared stash would help, salvaging gear would help too, if crafting is done well.

=Ladder: If you’re going to have it, reset it frequently… like every quarter or so. Otherwise nobody really cares.

=crafting: could be awesome, could ruin the game. I have faith with blizzard… to a degree.

Finally, my fifth class prediction: A bow/crossbow based character that has some sort of nature/spirit style magic. Will definitely be a twist on a Ranger style class, but not like the Amazon or Rogue exactly.
Future guesses of expansion characters: A fallen, dark paladin, and a demonic magic based character (shape-shifter / mage).