I finally got to play some Diablo 3

[Clive Howlitzer]

Ohh how sad it makes me. I was hoping that everything I had viewed and read about the game would be wrong and somehow I'd be blown away so I could look forward to it again, sadly, this was not the case.
I guess I won't really rant about all the stuff that drives me nuts since everyone else has done the same at some point I am sure. I just really wish they'd rethink the way they are doing skills. I love when I level up and I don't get to do anything with it. No skill points, no stat points. I just look at what the game gave me. I can't even use the skills because I have such limited quick slots.
This online only thing is absolutely brutal too. I can see this being murder on people with slow connections. I was using my laptop with wireless, which alternated around 150-300ms ping and hoo boy was it bad. It is pretty frustrating when the game lags so bad and you know its all connection, and not your computer, all while running about on singleplayer.
Granted, its beta, servers are likely loaded, and its wireless. I am sure I'll get a better connection at home but its still sucky.
I read Blizzard is still adjusting core systems so here is hoping they delay the game some more and change them all for the better. If not, at least I got a free preview of it so I know to avoid it.
-EDIT-
I should add also, a friend of mine insisted I am going about it all wrong. I should view the game as just an action game like Gauntlet Legends instead of expecting to get anything RPG out of it. I guess this makes sense, but it isn't really what I want out of Diablo. Anyway, any thoughts on this?(Old news I know, but I just got in the testing)
-EDIT #2-
Well, after beating all of the Diablo 3 beta, I can now say it is pretty damn terrible. It is just so...boring. There is no gameplay at all, no challenge, nothing. I just can't even fathom a reason why anyone would play. As for my friend who initially described it as being a Gauntlet Legends type game, he finally played it and completely changed his tune. What he posted to me was as follows...(This is from a message window, so bear with the formatting)
"If that was the best they could come up with, after all that time then that is really the saddest fucking thing ever the difficutly was non-existent, the story was boring and derivative that mostly reused elements of the past 2 games, and the gameplay was incredibly lackluster, even for Diablo. All the traps and health globes and shit were mostly pointless, and I found no compelling reason to keep playing other than I knew we were almost at the end of the beta It's not even that I'm bothered by the lack of customization - I'm bothered by the fact that there was no challening gameplay, or even any gameplay at all that didn't involve more than hitting a few hotkeys seemingly at random
Now you could argue that the Diablo series has always been like that, but never has it been so devoid of challenge (even in Normal mode), so as to render the entire experience utterly meaningless And with an extremely disappointing aesthetic experience (music, graphics, atmosphere, etc), I see no reason to ever play the game over something like Titan's Quest, or even a true MMO like DDO
When both games do everything far better than Diablo 3 seems to present itself as"

So, I suppose that is it! My thoughts are about the same. A shame really. However, to anyone who is looking for an excuse to click their mouse without any challenge or point, pick up Diablo 3.

 

[Vault101]

I hope it fails...I know thats sounds mean I dont often wish it on games but I really hope it tanks

 

[Xannieros]

I felt the same way when I first played the beta. Leveling... just doesn't seem fun anymore. I wouldn't have complained if they kept the same system as Diablo 2. Why? Because it worked.

 

[Fappy]

There's always Torchlight 2!

Whenever it comes out... >.>

 

[Wolfram23]

Sad. After the crap that was the Starcraft 2 campaign, I don't think I'm going to buy any more Blizzard games for a while. I'd love to test D3 and see if I like it at all, because maybe I'll find it fun, but honestly it sounds rather bad.

If they're trying to make it God of War -esq then Blizzard can go fuck themselves. GoW 3 (only one I've played) was not a very good game to me.

All that said, I only know a little of D3 and so I still maintain some hope that it will pull through.

 

[babinro]

Below is what I posted on the D3 Forums as per my first time through beta impressions. Despite the negative impact of the beta, I fully plan to buy the game. I feel the mechanics in place with skills will work great with the game in the long run. My fear is simply that I may have to endure 20 hours of on and off boredom before I get into the game.

The Great
- Atmosphere: I understand a lot of people are complaining about the graphics. I for one disagree. The game may not look high end, but it simply oozes atmosphere and that dark vibe. The game looks and feels like a new Diablo game.
- Story: Enabling the story to be told as you progress through the game is a perfect design choice. Decisions like this keep players focused on moving forward while clearing away non-challenging baddies. It also re-enforces the feeling of atmosphere by giving background and details of the area you're traveling through.
- Performance: This feels like a Blizzard quality title. No problems whatsoever with how the game ran and responds to controls.
- User friendly: This doesn't apply to me, as I'm a long time Diablo player. But the game certainly makes it easy to pick up and understand.

The Bad News
I should preface that I've only played through with the Barbarian so far and I realize this is little more than the game's tutorial.

That said, the game simply felt boring. There were numerous times I actually wanted to stop playing the game and do something else. To compare this to another game...I'd use FF XIII as an example. Many people hated the game as it had a long tutorial feeling (several hours gameplay before you start to feel challenged). Diablo 3 could be an amazing game in the long run...but it certainly gives a poor first impression.

What made it boring?

This is hard to answer and honestly I can't put my finger on it exactly. Part of it was pacing. I felt like I was in the catacombs fighting similar types of mobs in similar environments for FAR to long. Finding that 3rd level made me want to quit the game as it felt like a grind. Breaking constant barrels every 10ft was okay in D2 days, it's become tedious since then. Running around the battlefield to pick up gold is a great step in the right direction. Having to be so close to it in order to do so actually saves no time and forces you to run around needlessly for to much of your actual play time. The autoloot aura should be significantly wider.

The actual movement speeds are sluggish. It's like I'm playing Diablo 2 using only the walk function. Unless there's a D3 run button I missed...this is probably the most significant reason I felt let down by the experience.

I didn't appreciate leveling until I got another skill slot. Level 6 felt like my first true level in the game. Sure I could replace skills...but they were all almost equally effective against monsters. I felt like the decisions I made held no weight. Getting the extra slot allowed me to change up my 'routine'. The fact that I already fell into a standard routine so early in the game was a bad sign. This is a tough complaint, because I feel in the long term, the skills will truly feel different from one another as difficulty increases and runes are introduced. However, in the early levels that make up the beta, it makes for a boring experience.

I loved the idea of destructible environments...but half the chandeliers I could drop didn't clearly show where they'd land. As such, I couldn't abuse the the environments when I wanted to and simply had to resort to luck. I was expecting to see enemies using the environment to their advantages as well as myself. In this manor the game would feel more natural. As is, it feels like the game is simply giving me the red 'explosives' canister to shoot at for the occasional group of mobs. It comes across as overly mechanical.

Verdict:

I would NOT buy this game based on the beta experience alone. It is only on the strength of Diablo 2 and Blizzards outstanding gaming history do I still plan to purchase this game on it's release.

 

[Woodsey]

I hope it fails...I know thats sounds mean I dont often wish it on games but I really hope it tanks

So do I. Their excuses for the always-online DRM are nonsensical, yet people are eating it up.

 

[Fishyash]

Diablo 2 was more of an action game than an RPG. I am glad they are starting to go all the way.

The removal of the skill tree though I wasn't very happy with. However it made sense with at least going away with stat points (although they could have done better and just redesigned the stat system to make it more balanced).

The problem with the stat system in d2 was that it was imbalanced. This was mentioned in an interview with Jay Wilson on the first press event if I recall correctly.

Spoiler: Interview with Jay Wilson where this was adressed

Q: I?m curious as to why you guys did away with the ability to set your own stats.

A: Well, the main reason we didn?t do attribute point spending was that as a customization system, it wasn?t very good. What you found was, my favorite example is, if you want to know how to build pretty much any character in D2, you take enough strength to use the armor that you?re targeting. That?s usually around 120-220, depending on what type of armor you take. 75 Dexterity, because that?s generally the number you need for a good block percentage, you take no Energy at all (unless you?re making a Sorceress build using Energy Shield) and then everything else in Vitality. That?s a shitty customization system. That?s just not a good system. And the thing is, once you get into just pure, mathematical attribute spending, there?s a mathematically correct answer. And we are not so smart as to outsmart all the incredibly intelligent people in our community who will find that correct answer. So we focus on customization systems that literally are that, that feel like customization systems, that are catering to playstyle, as opposed to just being able to move around these attribute points and knowing that there?s an optimum way to do that. So that?s the primary reason.

TL;DR This is what you would spend your attribute points on.

Enough strength to wear gear
75 dexterity for max block (if playing LoD)
Rest into HP
Nothing in energy

It wouldn't really be that big a deal if it depended greatly on your class/build, but you do more or less this for every single character you make. If the developers don't have confidence in making a customizable stat system that doesn't come down to what happened to diablo 2, I am not suprised they just scrapped the idea alltogether.

They adressed quite a few changes in that blog, although not all of them may be relevant today because it's pretty old.

 

[sheah1]

May I ask how people are playing it?
And, despite it being the only possible way I'll ever get any worthwhile play out of it, but from the sounds of things I think Blizzard's attempts to make the game available for console players (like me) may have had a hugely detrimental effect on the game.
Eh, it feels..... wrong for me to say that.

 

[isometry]

Hopefully playing on a wired connection will improve your ping. I plan to play the game with a controller (whether or not they officially support it on PC), I imagine that's why they limited the quick slots.

I hope it fails...I know thats sounds mean I dont often wish it on games but I really hope it tanks

So do I. Their excuses for the always-online DRM are nonsensical, yet people are eating it up.

I played Diablo 2 on closed battlenet, which means playing always online and having the character save file stored on the servers.

Even in this proto-mmo type setup, there were a lot of hackers and cheaters that messed up the economy. For example, they used exploits to duplicate items, sell them, and later Blizzard would delete the item. So basically anything you traded for might be a fake that will later disappear, it was terrible. The point is, the purpose of the always-online in Diablo 3 is to keep that data server side only and greatly reduce the hacking problem.

 

[kasperbbs]

I hope it fails...I know thats sounds mean I dont often wish it on games but I really hope it tanks

I doubt it will happen, a week ago, maybe more than a week there was a users choice top ten list of most anticipated games of 2012 on gametrailers and guess who won? Yep, diablo.

 

[Qitz]

There's always Torchlight 2!

Whenever it comes out... >.>

aaaaand you just delayed the game again

As for D3, yeah, it does seem REALLY pissed on compared to D2 but I guess we can wait and see if some modders will get a hold of it and pull a D2LikeMod for it.

May still get it, may not, waiting to give it more a look when more info finally comes out.

 

[Frost27]

-EDIT-
I should add also, a friend of mine insisted I am going about it all wrong. I should view the game as just an action game like Gauntlet Legends instead of expecting to get anything RPG out of it. I guess this makes sense, but it isn't really what I want out of Diablo. Anyway, any thoughts on this?(Old news I know, but I just got in the testing)

I disagree with your friend. I think that given the fact that this is the third in a series it is entirely reasonable to have an expectation of how the game should be set up and you are well within your rights to be disappointed when that expectation is let down.

That's like telling someone they can't dog on the Star Wars prequels because they aren't looking at them as a cash grab way to appeal to kids rather than an on par continuation of the mythos.

It's doo bad developers fail to realize that making something that is a flashy fast action version of the original to "appeal to a wider audience" is entirely missing the point that the original needed none of the changes to build the fan base and the fan base is the best advertiser in the world.

 

[Frost27]

I hope it fails...I know thats sounds mean I dont often wish it on games but I really hope it tanks

So do I. Their excuses for the always-online DRM are nonsensical, yet people are eating it up.

It isn't really nonsensical since it has absolutely nothing to do with DRM. All the "Always on" and "anti hacker" stuff is meant to do is build a safe and stable shell for their real money auction house.

Blizzard has decided to attempt to make Diablo 3 the world's largest micro transaction supported "free-to-play" that you actually have to pay for. They aren't making you stay online for rights management, they are making you stay online to protect their cash machine and to make sure you'll buy auction house items for your single player game as well.

 

[Valiance]

There's always Torchlight 2!

Whenever it comes out... >.>

You know what's amazing?

Torchlight came out and lots of people waiting for D3 fell in love with it, and now Torchlight 2 might come out before D3...At least Torchlight II has an estimated release window!

And...to stay on topic, let me just voice a few concerns. D3 will continue to muddy whatever uniqueness the game had down. I'm not saying "OH NO THE WOW GRAPHICS" but combining a very lackluster skill system with "quick slots" and such, the game will have much less depth to it than Diablo 2, and be more of a numbers game with gear taking precedence over anything else.

 

[Fappy]

There's always Torchlight 2!

Whenever it comes out... >.>

You know what's amazing?

Torchlight came out and lots of people waiting for D3 fell in love with it, and now Torchlight 2 might come out before D3...At least Torchlight II has an estimated release window!

And...to stay on topic, let me just voice a few concerns. D3 will continue to muddy whatever uniqueness the game had down. I'm not saying "OH NO THE WOW GRAPHICS" but combining a very lackluster skill system with "quick slots" and such, the game will have much less depth to it than Diablo 2, and be more of a numbers game with gear taking precedence over anything else.

It is still kind of disconcerting that its been delayed by over half a year. I want them to get this game out asap so Blizzard doesn't piss on their sales!

 

[Woodsey]

I hope it fails...I know thats sounds mean I dont often wish it on games but I really hope it tanks

So do I. Their excuses for the always-online DRM are nonsensical, yet people are eating it up.

It isn't really nonsensical since it has absolutely nothing to do with DRM. All the "Always on" and "anti hacker" stuff is meant to do is build a safe and stable shell for their real money auction house.

Blizzard has decided to attempt to make Diablo 3 the world's largest micro transaction supported "free-to-play" that you actually have to pay for. They aren't making you stay online for rights management, they are making you stay online to protect their cash machine and to make sure you'll buy auction house items for your single player game as well.

Well that's alright then; just so long as they're forcing online single-player so that people are encouraged to spend more money, I can sleep easy at night.

(And of course it has something to do with DRM. They just don't say it is so that people are more likely to agree to it.)

 

[Fappy]

I hope it fails...I know thats sounds mean I dont often wish it on games but I really hope it tanks

So do I. Their excuses for the always-online DRM are nonsensical, yet people are eating it up.

It isn't really nonsensical since it has absolutely nothing to do with DRM. All the "Always on" and "anti hacker" stuff is meant to do is build a safe and stable shell for their real money auction house.

Blizzard has decided to attempt to make Diablo 3 the world's largest micro transaction supported "free-to-play" that you actually have to pay for. They aren't making you stay online for rights management, they are making you stay online to protect their cash machine and to make sure you'll buy auction house items for your single player game as well.

Well that's alright then; just so long as they're forcing online single-player so that people are encouraged to spend more money, I can sleep easy at night.

(And of course it has something to do with DRM. They just don't say it is so that people are more likely to agree to it.)

I really can't quite understand why Bioware is taking so much flack lately when Blizzard has shown time and time again throughout the past 5 or so years that they honestly don't give a shit about their fans. Yes its a genius business model... doesn't mean its the right thing to do.