Hi guys. Let me start by saying I'm a huge fan of any RPG orientated game. Be it Hack&Slash or pure 1st Person RPG, I'll try it and probably spend a great deal of time on it. I also am one of the guyz that are waiting for D3 for so may years.
3? years ago, when the D3 site was up with gameplay of some of the classes, I was excited. I didn't like the fact that they only brought Barbarian from D2, but compared to the footage, that was nothing. Now as the years passed and Blizz made some decisions about the game that I found offensive to the customers to say the least, I'm trying to suppress my Nostalgia and not buy D3.
Let me expand my thoughts and then I really want your opinions on the subject. It will be a LONG post..
1. Artwork and Innovation: You can argue on how important is for you, the artwork to be something new and exciting but in D3 it's the same artwork Blizz used in every of their games. The minions are again the same minions we killed in D2 with just some additions.
And just a comparison: Compare deathwing's face with Diablo 3 box front artwork. Spoiler: They look exactly the same..
Also under this category falls the Demon Hunter's artwork. It's almost the same model that Torchlight used for their Vanquisher. When I first saw her, I was surprised with how similar they looked.
But to be fair, even if the artwork is nothing new, it fits very well with the graphics they used for the dungeons. The game's UI is smooth which I think is the major advantage of Blizz' games over the others'
2. Spells/Skills: I hate some spells in the game.. Monk's especially. Too flashy but no essence. Especially the one that jumps around hitting people. I hate it. It seems blizz designed the spells to be flashy but clearly forgot to make them count. In d2 every skill you chose to level counted. For example, the most flashy spell in d2, Frozen Orb, had great potential to kite many enemies, or clear fast larger groups.
I just feel, they missed the point when they designed the spells.
3. Music: Same SAME music with d2. Same ambient sounds, same deep sounds, same everything. Just much better quality
These 3 reasons are something I can live with. They are subject to taste and really I don't mind playing D2 in much better graphics. But there are stuff I just feel they are offensive to us who waited so many years for this game and supported Blizzard throughout.
IMPORTANT STUFF:
1. NO Offline Mode: SERIOUSLY? SERIOUSLY? I have a great internet connection and even in a perfect world with 24/7 uptime and no lags this would still hurt me as ****. Blizz obviously in an attempt to deal with Piracy, decides to gimp something important (SINGLE PLAYER) just to save money.
So what they really remove a feature (which imho is the Reason I would buy d3 since I'm not interested in the online mode) for the whole community, to get rid of those who download the game.
What really hurts me is the fact that whoever downloads a pirate copy, will not be able to enjoy the online feature since they won't have a valid CD Key. Do you see the problem? They remove the offline option for everyone, just to avoid some ppl to play only offline.
What can you do about it instead of destroying (because for me it's THE destruction of the game) the game for many gamers:
a)Sell an ONLY offline edition at half price. People who want to enjoy the game only offline will buy it because it will be cheap and still have all the features they can.
b) I don't know the technological difficulty of this but they could find a way to bind the updates with the CD key.
I want also to remind everyone here what the Head of Steam said about Piracy. He said it's a Service Problem and Piracy would perish if you supply better service than them. That's easy.! GIVE CREDITS TO YOUR CUSTOMERS GODDAMMIT. Don't gimp a game for your loyal customers just to avoid finding your game on piratebay.
Skyrim was a success and sold so many copies even if it was OFFLINE ONLY! 30 euros for the Game of the Year was an amazing price and you felt you had to support them.
2. Real money Auction House: This may also be objective but that's WRONG in many ways. I'm not going to say it will inflate the d3's economy since we must wait to see that. [Also I must note here though, that due to the only Online mode and the absence of a Ladder reset system,once the game's economy is ruined, you are forced to come to terms with it or abandon the game.]
The real problem here is that I pay the initial game cost to play the game. Why should someone who has more IRL money have an advantage over me? I for once feel I paid my debt to the game since I bought it and don't want to spend a fortune on it just because a Game designer thought it would be clever to give Real life advantages. If someone doesn't have IRL time to farm and get items, then they shouldn't be granted a free pass just because they have money.. You need to work through the game to reap the rewards.
Also it is an amazing way to lure more trolls into the game who think they accomplished something because they bought better items via AH.
Now, it's pretty hard to swallow this but what makes it even harder is that In game Gold can be also sold in the Real money AH. This part annoys the hell out of me. At least keep the gold out so we can actually use the In game Auction House. Prices will increase since the value of the in game gold will drop and this will also hurt the game experience of someone who doesn't want to pay more money.
3. In game Exclusive staff in Collector's edition: This was the drop that spilled the cup. REALLY? so in order to enjoy an awesome feature I need to pay another 100$? IN WHICH game in order to experience an in game feature you need to buy the collector's edition? Right. the answer is WoW. But wait.. In WoW you only got 1 hardly noticable pet out of 100+ you could obtain. In d3 you get a set of Amazingly looking Wings that can't be obtained otherwise. GOOD move. GOOD move. I hate that. I feel like Blizz insults us. It's just an awful way to make people buy your collector's edition.. And please don't forget that they also put inside a USB with the d2 game in, which is an easy way to raise the cost of the packet without offering anything important.
4. No Mods. Since they have no Single player it was evident they would prohibit the use of mods. I can't find words.. I really can't. It's not that I use mods in my first walk-through, but they are sure an interesting addition. Also let's not forget how Important is community for a game. (Gothic 3 and the Revamp of Morrowind). And again they gimp the experience of a large group of gamers just to fight piracy..
5. They have their d3 website up for about 3 years and we still don't get a release date. We are not babies.. And in addition, you can't post on d3 forums if you don't have an active subscription.. Really? How low is that..? Also I don't like the mentality of Blizz about the "exploits".. The whole point of games is to exploit the enemies' weakness.. You should use everything you can to your advantage.. It seems that Blizz just wants no-brain fights and I don't like that.
Final Words: The game seems to be an upgrade of diablo 2 with some nice gameplay additions but the Blizz attitude towards their customers is so irritating.
I loved d2. It was the first game I was really into.. It absorbed me as nothing similar before. But as I see d3 coming, the only thing that I see is good graphics and the Nostalgia of the game I loved.. Blizzard destroys my most beloved title and I feel sad about that.
If someone actually read all this stuff, I'ld love to know your opinion on d3 state. Sorry for the Wall of text and any grammar errors. My English skills are not the best around..