D3 longevity: what WERE people expecting?

[The Ogdru Jahad]

I'm going through the same thing, although, I haven't scratched a 100 hours yet nor am I even close. But I burnt out fast, got my monk to 60 and Inferno Act I, then lost the motivation to keep playing. I feel like without leveling, gear isn't enough of an incentive to keep playing, even though it's what the game is all about similar to WoW.

[Riavan]

I'm going through the same thing, although, I haven't scratched a 100 hours yet nor am I even close. But I burnt out fast, got my monk to 60 and Inferno Act I, then lost the motivation to keep playing. I feel like without leveling, gear isn't enough of an incentive to keep playing, even though it's what the game is all about similar to WoW.

Wow still has a lot more content and a higher level of gameplay involved than diablo 3 does.

[Metta World Peace]

Honestly the game is fine however the AH thing is pretty much a nail into the game.

Since I've beaten Diablo on inferno mode, I've been spending more time on the AH instead of playing the game itself. Quite sad actually.

This thread is starting to remind me about that post that kept popping on on the D3 forums in beta. http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/s...-Kill-Diablo-3

[Ianus]

Wow still has a lot more content and a higher level of gameplay involved than diablo 3 does.

diablo isn't mmorpg.. pls learn some facts

[Riavan]

This thread is starting to remind me about that post that kept popping on on the D3 forums in beta. http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/s...-Kill-Diablo-3

I agree that the lack of a community prescence and the ability to show off your gears/achivements etc, gives less of a drive to log in or get further in the game.
It is definitely one of the problems/issues with diablo 3 that will stop it's longetivity.

---------- Post added 2012-06-10 at 01:46 PM ----------

diablo isn't mmorpg.. pls learn some facts

Neither is phantasy star, monster hunter, guild wars 1.
But yet they kind of are.

Diablo is a multiplayer rpg, there's no reason it shouldn't be compared to wow just because it's not "massive". Guild wars 1 never had a subscription or a cash shop (until recently), yet still managed to implement most of the community and content elements of an mmo. Blizzard is clearly planning on making it's cash shop the money it makes from the RMAH. Why shouldn't diablo be held to the same standard just because it's not massive?

[LTCrystallite]

Game isn't over until you clear hardcore inferno. Or at a minimum have cleared softcore inferno and have a near-bis char.

This isn't what Diablo 2 was about, so I don't know why they went in a "WoW tier" type direction with gear in Diablo 3. Diablo 2 was more about testing custom builds, farming for a huge variety of useful gear (any level gear as long as it had uses, not just "max tier" gear) and the thrill of hostile/PK avoiding.

Because Inferno difficulty is very bias and punishing on custom builds and skills because of range differences and being 1-3 shot, the idea of customizing now boils down to "best kiting and biggest range skill set". Good luck using Spectral Blade, Shock Pulse (non orb), Frogs, Firebats, non Bear Zombie Chargers etc in inferno.

The game should NEVER be over. That's why Diablo 2 was so great.

[Terminatrix]

I kept getting the feeling that a lot of people thought D3 was supposed to be like an MMO or something. Usually those that had never seen a diablo game. As far as I'm concerned it's the exact same as D2 with some beefed up graphics, it was mildly entertaining on the first run through, though incredibly predictable, and it had as much replay value to me as D2, very little.

beg to differ its nothing like D2 u cant save ur game and even if u can solo it from start to end u cant save ur map file and have to do quest one shot till the end

[Acry]

This isn't what Diablo 2 was about, so I don't know why they went in a "WoW tier" type direction with gear in Diablo 3. Diablo 2 was more about testing custom builds, farming for a huge variety of useful gear (any level gear as long as it had uses, not just inferno gear) and the thrill of hostile/PK avoiding.

Because Inferno is very bias and punishing on custom builds and skills because of range differences and being 1-3 shot, the idea of customizing now boils down to "Which skill set allows me to stand at maximum range, to kite well and does the most damage?"

Adding onto your post: With the fact of items that provide skills' not existing in D3 killed customization even further. Remember when we had Barbarians that used Wolfhowl unique helm, and it completely changed the way they were played? Barbarians that specialized in clearing Chaos Sanc w/ Grief RW and Enigma? One or two items completely changed the build and reason of your character.

D3 is really bland, and I feel the same way as a lot of people in here. It's just lost my interest quickly. D3's item treadmill became even more simpler than D2, and took all the fun with it. Upgrading is now like generic MMO's in which each upgrade provides more str/stam/int/dex/ etc.. nothing special like D2 with skills on items. It's odd how they moved away from interesting mechanics such as these in substitute for generic stuff we see in games time, and time again.

Because of that, I understand how people will just compare it to WoW/MMO's. It really feels like it was designed with MMO in mind, and only the basics of the Diablo playstyle. Hopefully, they realize this and patch in some super duper content in the future. It just seems like they're cutting everything instead though :/

[Hypro]

I played the 1st 2 weeks got a DH Barb to level 60 and a wizard to 54 and now its just meh... The game just didnt change enough for me. it was the same thing... just like what wow...

[Harry Botter]

People who knew what this genre is about knew exactly what to expect. The people who had no idea about this type of game, and bought into the hype is what is making it look worse than it is. They bought a game without any prior knowledge or just because it was popular and then proceeded to bash it.

[Riavan]

Just to sum it up from what people have been saying, these appear to be the main issues.

Lack of community prescence - no towns, no being able to see characters/gear in chat etc, not being able to show off achivements or gear leads to a lack of motivation. Also no real socialization/community.
Non-deverse gameplay - The main gameplay seems to be kiting, compared to other games and diablo 2, this is a pretty big downgrade. Most classes play the same in the harder difficulties.
Lack of content - farming the same game 4 times may have been fun in diablo 2, 10 years ago, it's not really acceptable any more with other kinds of online rpg having much more content.

[Jokubas]

I think a lot of people were expecting to relive their younger days of playing Diablo 2, and that was never going to happen.

We're all older now. When I was a kid, I could play the same section of a game a million times over and not even notice. Nowadays, I don't see a point in that. Nothing can ever be that replayable again, regardless of its actual quality.

[Lucifer Morningstar]

I thought I will be challenged in the last difficulty while playing for the sake of challenge, and that will keep me playing for as long as the mobs are still hard for me to kill.

Going glass canon and dying to a mob licking you once is not exactly fun to do again and again.
Going resist & balanced gear worth millions and getting 2 licks is still not fun.

[Flaks]

Because they don't understand that Diablo 2 wasn't perfect on release. On release it was a slow, sluggish, repetitive game with item issues, bugs and exploits. Eventually it became the great game that everyone remembers it as. People are used to instant satisfaction these days or something and expect the game to be perfect on release despite that no Blizzard game has ever been perfect on release. Even SC1, which is considered by many in the community to be the most well balanced RTS game ever, was buggy and super imbalanced at release. Perfection takes time. :/

Nail on the head right there.

Wait a bit. New patches, PvP patch and all and you'll see the "QQ D3 SUCKS D2 4life" crew shrivel into that little hovel of bitching they crawled out of.

[Moist]

Inferno is COMPLETELY different. The first 3 difficulties are ZERO challenge. The game starts at inferno.

[Leonard McCoy]

People who knew what this genre is about knew exactly what to expect. The people who had no idea about this type of game, and bought into the hype is what is making it look worse than it is. They bought a game without any prior knowledge or just because it was popular and then proceeded to bash it.

I know what this genre is about and was expecting better from d3. Even if you want to pigeonhold it in to the arpg genre, it fails in that as well. It's fail on every level really.

---------- Post added 2012-06-10 at 04:27 AM ----------

Nail on the head right there.

Wait a bit. New patches, PvP patch and all and you'll see the "QQ D3 SUCKS D2 4life" crew shrivel into that little hovel of bitching they crawled out of.

and Blizzard didn't learn a damn fucking thing in 10+ years. So much so that they released a game in as shit condition as the predecessor game was 10 years ago. No growth, no development. Just mediocrity. People have such a crazy double standard on this forum...

[Joodoc]

Totes, cos I havn't ever finished mass effect cos I never played it on the hardest difficulty.
/rollseyes.

The way I see it, inferno is more like "endgame" an endgame that is just a repetition of the other last 3 difficulties. Pretty lackluster when you compare it to other multiplayer rpgs nowdays, content wise.

There is a difference. You can(usually) start the hardest setting in the beginning in those games, in D3, you ahve to beat them in order. Also, there is additional stuff in the ahrder modes that isn't in the less hard ones. You have acheives to complete, you have blacksmith to level up, you have JC to level up, you have better gear to get, etc

[Harry Botter]

I know what this genre is about and was expecting better from d3. Even if you want to pigeonhold it in to the arpg genre, it fails in that as well. It's fail on every level really.

---------- Post added 2012-06-10 at 04:27 AM ----------

That is really just your opinion. Just like what i typed was mine. Just because you set your expectations too high does not mean it's anyones fault but your own.

[warlocked]

I was expecting more. The incredibly slow rate at which you gain skills with a new character kills the replay value for me.

As compared to the fast rate in diablo 2?. I can play a lot more diablo 3 than diablo 2 in a day. However after years with a polished game that people would play for 1 or 2 hours people expected to be able to play diablo 3 for 6 hours a day 7 days a week without getting bored.

[Eon Drache]

I didn't even get 50 hours of game time in D3 before the repetitiveness got boring beyond belief.