Game design update is out.

[Vespian]

Most likely people just didn't care about the game enough (it's boring).

I can very much see your point of view. I guess you don't play it with multiple friends and never tried a harder difficulty? Personally I would find playing this on my own pretty boring as well and see DIII as one of the prime examples of a game type that should always be enjoyed coop, with the rare solo farm in-between.

I'm currently progressing with two [HC]characters through Nightmare, not particularly in a rush, nor having a preference for one character. One is a Demon Hunter with a focus on survivability/damage and the other a Witch Doctor with a focus on survivability/support. I've not set foot in Hell on any character just yet, something a lot of people probably find strange, but I'm enjoying my game play, slowly, and enjoying fighting with constant threat of death.

It's quite fun when you progress and find yourself no longer fearing A1 t/m 2 and suddenly almost getting nuked in A3. The increase in difficulty is quite apparent, especially to characters that simply can't die, because that would be like, fatal.

So far Blizzard has exceeded my expectations. They made it hard, but not too hard. I'm quite sure Inferno is not too hard, it simply requires adapting. Albeit those damage "spikes" might obviously affect anyone. That said, it will be a month or more before we even consider entering Inferno. Strangely, I'm hoping that it won't get nerfed, but only fixed if Blizzard finds those spikes to be undesired.

[Thrage]

Those stats are actually pretty interesting. 35% of all deaths in Hardcore is in Act 1 Normal? O.o

I've seen a lot of people die in hardcore, and the most common place has been the Khazra Barricade gauntlet with all the goat men and the trees. Sometimes this is accompanied by raging and caps lock and "WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU GUYS."

Typically if you get to Nightmare mode, everyone is fairly good at what they do and it makes for a pretty pleasurable game experience. Nice folks who are good at the game. There's a camaraderie that exists in HC that you only see once you get past a certain point, but once you do, it's pretty cool to see it.

[Djuntas]

Gimme this patch now...

No really, its a start. Much to go, but its a start.

I think ill not worry about balancing anymore. Just gonna go ahead as planned, saving gold for my planned item ugrades. Need to grind atleast 1 million gold more I figure. A good weapon setup seems atleast 2-3 million gold alone if you want some 900 dps one-hander and demi-lich 60 rare off-hand with good damage rolls :/

[Deleted]

I dont recall you at least trying to explain why 80% of the millions who bought Diablo havent even beaten NORMAL yet? Also getting to Inferno is a joke. Have two characters there. I am taking summer classes and have a full time job. Its not hard, Im not online 14 hours a day like the hardcore people were the first week rushing through stuff. I guess people now just see Blizzard and expect a faceroll game like WoW. Then when they dont get it they just quit.

Also the two classes I have in Inferno are a Monk and Barbarian. I didnt go FotM easy mode OP wizard or demon hunter.

I did, one post up. However you choose to completely ignore that. The statistics clearly do not say that 80% of people did not beat normal yet. Also twice in inferno with a full time job and classes? Pretty sure you have absolutely no social life besides gaming then or else I call lies on that statement. It does take some effort to get to inferno.

I guess you are not only quite bad with statistics but also with communication. Just ignoring a post because it properly proves you wrong....

[BananaInsane]

Strange most of the people i know are too... I have a feeling it isn't truely 2%.

Either that or i chill with total badasses.

You'd think that alot of casual player bought it, who don't tend to socialize on a gaming forum. :P

[ghostnet]

Interesting info

[Frozen Death Knight]

Just looked at the official forums and Diablofans regarding the statistics on characters that have unlocked Inferno.

Being an A grade student in math, the stuff I saw there were one of the most embarrassing things I have ever encountered in the Blizzard community. I had to do a captain Pickard double handed facepalm when I saw someone failing miserably at doing a simple percentage calculation.

Man, this is just getting plain ridiculous.

[BananaInsane]

Just looked at the official forums and Diablofans regarding the statistics on characters that have unlocked Inferno.

Being an A grade student in math, the stuff I saw there were one of the most embarrassing things I have ever encountered in the Blizzard community. I had to do a captain Pickard double handed facepalm when I saw someone failing miserably at doing a simple percentage calculation.

Man, this is just getting plain ridiculous.

Link to any of the threads regarding it?

[Frozen Death Knight]

Link to any of the threads regarding it?

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/top...4090?page=3#59

Mainly this thread. The Diablofans one is linked in the latest update on MMO-Champion.

Edit: http://www.diablofans.com/news/1222-...page__st__100/

Here it is.

[VeNoMmx]

Wordy response, what they meant was: "we really don´t care, we'll do some crappy re balance so you can stop your bitching."

[battledude]

http://www.diablofans.com/news/1222-...design-update/

def interesting

[Lathais]

I have 2 a Monk and Barbarian both are 60 and in Inferno. So I guess I can make up my own stats to fit my point also. 100% of my characters are above 30 and 100% are in Inferno.

No making anything up, I was simply pointing out that it was CHARS not PLAYERS and one reason that could lead to that. To assume people quit the game because it is garbage after seeing those numbers is silly.

What act Inferno are you in? Also what class are you playing?

I am currently in Hell Act 1. So no, not in Inferno, but I do see streams of people farming Inferno without much difficulty. Also Inferno is meant to be super hard to the point of near impossible. The gear grind in Diablo has always been like this. It takes forever to find the right gear, or you gotta buy it. At least now there is a safer way to buy it. I'm sorry that you think you should be able to /faceroll Inferno and can't. Get over it.

[BananaInsane]

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/top...4090?page=3#59

Mainly this thread. The Diablofans one is linked in the latest update on MMO-Champion.

Edit: http://www.diablofans.com/news/1222-...page__st__100/

Here it is.

Seems like Bashiok owned him bigtime. :P

[stomination]

Tons of people hate things that require gear or more skill. Its just like in wow.

[fangless]

The spike damage is definitely an issue, but it's hard to make it anything else.

For a non-tank, you're either not getting hit by mobs, or you are. If you're getting hit, it's probably from 2-3 at once. Unless they implement more abilities on mobs instead of just all melee direct attacks, no idea how they can change it.

That said, with enough proper gear, you can start to make progress. It just takes time. You won't be clearing Inferno the next day after you finish Hell, unlike the first 40 hours of the game.