Cigol

Diablo III

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The social aspect is definitely a large part of the draw for me, though I also just like being able to build my character. Having something that I'm constantly working at and feeling like I'm getting better is appealing to me. That being said, the character building also ties back to the social aspect of the game as it's less fun to spend all that time on your dude if you can't really show him to your friends. I played Torchlight and liked it a lot though, so there is something else I find compelling about the games, but given the choice between playing solo and working on leveling up a character and getting gear or playing a normal co-op game like L4D with my friends I'd rather play a game with my friends.

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I'm pretty sure the beta is set to easy difficulty so in all likelihood the final game will be much more challenging. That may be that 'thing' that's missing from D1 & D2.

I'm engaged by the social aspect, but I also think playing with different spells, attacks, and armor combinations will be the heart of the game for me. Just building up different characters and playstyles was where I had the most fun in the beta, and seeing how other players acted was an added bonus.

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Could someone who played the original games and/or the beta explain to me how Diablo 3 will work with regards to what's persistent, and how does it work with multiple characters/game sessions... is there such a thing as a game session? It's not an MMORPG, right?

Or, to paraphrase: how are the character mechanics in Diable 3 different from, say, World of Warcraft?

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I hope I don't get this wrong.

Your character keeps the levels/items etc that you earn in a session. When you load up the game you choose the character you will be playing. You then join a single player or multiplayer game. Each time the world is regenrated randomly, but your waypoints (teleportation stones) will remain so you can still port to the last location you played, even thouhg the surrounding environment will have regenerated randomly and will have its monsters respawned. There are some areas that are not regenerated and will look the same each time, like town hubs and special event floors.

If you are in a multiplayer game and log out, as long as someone stays in it it won't change. You could then go get a different character and rejoin the same game and port back to your mates to play. If you all logged out that exact world is gone.

Also, there is a chest in the starting town that you can leave items in for your other characters. Useful if you find a nifty item, but for another class.

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Okay, so each character is totally separate, and a character's progress is defined by loot, XP and reaching "checkpoints" in the world?

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That's pretty much it, apart from the shared stash. Oh and I think gold was shared between characters on the beta, and that gold can be used to upgrade a blacksmith in the town to craft items for you and remained upgraded for all characters.

If you are planning on playing with people on different continents there seems to be some restrictions in place regarding transferring characters between region servers.

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Sounds pretty fun, though it sounds like the randomly generated stuff has to be pretty fantastic for it to remain fun for years and years.

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The social aspect is definitely a large part of the draw for me, though I also just like being able to build my character. Having something that I'm constantly working at and feeling like I'm getting better is appealing to me. That being said, the character building also ties back to the social aspect of the game as it's less fun to spend all that time on your dude if you can't really show him to your friends. I played Torchlight and liked it a lot though, so there is something else I find compelling about the games, but given the choice between playing solo and working on leveling up a character and getting gear or playing a normal co-op game like L4D with my friends I'd rather play a game with my friends.

For me, the draw of Diablo 2 was the setting and atmosphere. Although my interaction with the world was pretty straightforward (click, kill, click, loot, repeat) it did feel like I was really wandering through the haunted remains of an actual world. Plus there was always the occasional set piece or rare/unique drop that made me think "Oh, if I keep going, I'll find x!"

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For me, the draw of Diablo 2 was the setting and atmosphere. Although my interaction with the world was pretty straightforward (click, kill, click, loot, repeat) it did feel like I was really wandering through the haunted remains of an actual world. Plus there was always the occasional set piece or rare/unique drop that made me think "Oh, if I keep going, I'll find x!"

Exactly what kept me playing Diablo II (and the expansion) as well. I'm replaying the second one in my lunchbreaks in anticipation at the moment, and it's lost none of its clicky, mind-massaging goodness. If I'm honest, I find playing Diablo quite zen-like, almost peaceful; it's really absorbing for me.

I never played either of first two Diablos online, though. BattlenNet sounded like a pretty nasty place to be. But I'm thinking I might try it with the third one--particularly if I can play with other Thumbs! :tup:

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This blog post about the new skill/talent system made me even keener to play it.

[QUIXOTE]Thanks to Jay Wilson and the rest of Blizzard. I think this ability system with 6 slots, the lack of tech trees, the 5 runes per ability, the infinite instant free respecs, and the valor buff system overall is a very solid design. I'd go so far to say that it advances the craft of game design, even. Blizzard has come a long way in designing these kind of systems, and I think they've finally nailed it.[/QUIXOTE]

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Just going by your QUIXOTE, would this be the late development game overhaul that was talked of fairly recently? It sounds really interesting and much more fluid ...if I've understood the implications correctly. :getmecoat

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Yup, instead of locking you in, they now want you to constantly experiment. Sounds really good.

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I'm hoping the cooldown on respecs that is short enough that you can change up your build during fights but long enough that you don't end up trying to respec each time you perform an action.

edit. Sirlin addresses this in the article.

Really looking forward to this now.

Demon Hunter, btw.

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You can't change during combat, unless you like not having access to a skill. But there is no hard cooldown, just a 5-10 second timer for switching a skill out.

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A promotional animated short released today.

Directed by Peter Chung, Titmouse

Budget aside, it has a classic Saturday morning vibe to it.

Especially the contrived arch angel introductions (Name, Power, repeat).

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Saturday morning cartoons. Wish I could go back there.

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Yeah.

When compared to the new TV spots for Diablo 3.

They've come a long way.

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Cain's voice annoys the crap out of me, always has.

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I would like to catch up on my epic Diablo lore before this is out. What would be the best way? Wikipedia?

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I would like to catch up on my epic Diablo lore before this is out. What would be the best way? Wikipedia?

If you have an iOS device, there's a surprisingly decent app called Diablore.

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The current German PC Games came with a 'Diablo Drei Exklusive Enzyklopadie'. Apart from that, RTFM from D1 and D2, it'll get you far.

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I would like to catch up on my epic Diablo lore before this is out. What would be the best way? Wikipedia?

You could watch these:

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If you have an iOS device, there's a surprisingly decent app called Diablore.

I didn't found anything called Diablore, but I found one called Diablo III Lore.

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I didn't found anything called Diablore, but I found one called Diablo III Lore.

Yeah, that's the one. It ends up being titled Diablore on my iPhone itself, to save space I suppose. It has decent summaries, but if those videos are good that might be a more enjoyable way to get the basic stories.

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Yeah, that's the one. It ends up being titled Diablore on my iPhone itself, to save space I suppose.

That's interesting! I'm assuming your phone is a 3GS or earlier(?) and that it has to do with name shortening thing. Unless you're on an iPad, in which case the app just has a different bundle display name or something.

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