Diablo 3

[Lingus]

I know there's other topics about this but they appear to be rather old so I figure I'd open up a new one. I just got a key last week and started playing the beta over the weekend. Anyone else playing?

I started with a monk and I just finished one play through of the beta with him. It's pretty great. But, I do feel there's something missing. For one the music is not as impactful. It's interesting because the composer who worked on Diablo 2 moved over to the Torchlight team, so Torchlight actually sounds more like Diablo than Diablo 3 does. Other than that, I am pleased with the results.

The skill system is pretty simplistic, but I think at this point I'm happier with that then I would be with trying to figure out builds. It relieves a lot of the stress involved because you can always respec your skills. That's something that always bothered me about Diablo 2 and other similar RPGs. I know it makes the game too simple for some people, but honestly I just want to have fun when I'm playing a game. And using this system, it still requires a certain amount of testing and/or research to determine what the best builds might be, but meanwhile you can set your skills when you get access to them rather than having to hold on to all of your unused skill points until you figure it out.

I remember one time in Diablo 2 I had a level 95 amazon with a few unused points because I was waiting to spend them on something. I let my little brother play and he ended up spending a few points on some random skill, so I scrapped the character and restarted. At the time I was playing so much that I got another amazon up to 99 within a week or so. Of course, there was the cow level back then.

So anyways, anyone else looking forward to the final release next month? Who else is playing currently and what all is your Battle Tags? Mine's Lingus#1674

[Chaos111]

I unfortunately didn't get a key for the beta, but I wouldn't of been able to download it anyway.
I'm planning on buying it within a few days of release and get started on it right away  :D

[Josh]

I got it free with the World of warcraft annual pass but ive been told what a grind it is & that people will just be buying crazy good gear so im not really planning on playing it, ill give it a go for sure but ehh.

[Matty_Richo]

I got into the beta a few months ago. I had a bit of a go but to be honest I didn't really enjoy it, it didn't seem like a particularly nice community, and most of them had over powered items, maybe they paid for them, maybe they got given them for some strange reason. There were also a few game breaking technical issues which I'm hoping have been ironed out now. But it may be worth another go.

[Cactuscat222]

I've been in the beta since the beginning of February, and I absolutely love it. I cannot wait for the full release.

My battletag is Cactuscat222#1629. I haven't actually used the tag before, do we just use them to add friends?

@Josh: You play WoW, but you don't want to play D3 because of the "grind"? Haha. ;) To be fair though, if you've ever played an ARPG like Diablo/Diablo 2 or Torchlight and enjoyed it, then you'll like D3. The entire point of them is the "grind" per se, but that is because the action and combat is supposed to be fun and fast paced, alongside tons of blood and loot. If that doesn't appeal to you, though, then Diablo 3 probably won't change your opinion - although being able to try out a different style of character without having to remake him might make it more enjoyable to some!

[Jake]

I got it free with the World of warcraft annual pass but ive been told what a grind it is & that people will just be buying crazy good gear so im not really planning on playing it, ill give it a go for sure but ehh.

Yes, the grinding in WoW is much more fun than the grinding in Diablo.

[Lingus]

Honestly, I have never cared about the fact that people on the server are overpowered. But what I really don't care about is whether they got that way by hacking/duping or by paying for it. It makes no difference to me. And in reality, you could pay for items in Diablo 2. Only difference now is it's more legit, which I think is a good thing. But again, this is really only one aspect of the game, and it really only comes into play when you interact with other people who take advantage of this feature. If you want to play solo, or with a group of friends who also don't take advantage of purchasing items, then it really makes no difference.

I am far more interested in the development of the story. They have really added to everything. The characters, the world, the plot itself. For those of you who have played through the beta, I find it interesting that they went back to the original Diablo as a source of content. Everything about Tristram, the Cathedral, King Leoric, it's all from the original game. It was touched on very briefly in Diablo 2, but for the most part they left it alone. So I'm really looking forward to playing Diablo as an RPG even more than the gameplay aspects of it. Which is why I think the stripped down version of the skill system is going to be so enjoyable. I want to focus less on that and more on the story and actually playing the game.

[Mr Pwnage]

I pre-ordered it last week. :) ...Don't think I'll be fortunate enough to land myself a beta key, but I can wait a month.

[Cactuscat222]

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/4963739/Diablo%C2%AE_III_Open_Beta_Weekend-4_19_2012

They just announced an Open Beta, all this weekend! Feel free to drop your battletags, and we can all play. :)

[T-Rok]

Oh hell yes. I'm Arkyn.

[Lucifer]

I just noticed that I never responded to this thread.

I was very impressed by the look and feel of the beta, thus far all evidence points to a solid sequel worthy of the Blizzard label. However, with its simplified skill system it's quite obvious that Blizzard is attempting to appeal to a wider audience of casual gamers, and I don't know just how I think about that yet. I've played Diablo 1 & 2 for as long as I can remember gaming, and I've always respected it as a series that didn't !@#$ around. Diablo knew that it didn't need to baby you, it didn't need to carefully walk you through the steps and monitor your every action, heck neither of the games ever even had an actual tutorial.

Diablo 2 encouraged you to think for your damned self, and with this newly found insight create a character that was unique. A character that's not just a Barbarian, but a dual-wielding axe-throwing madman. Not just an Amazon, a distraction artist armed with deadly poison. Not just a Paladin, an illusionist that converts enemies to fight for his cause. It took skill to create your character, and although it was definitely easy to make mistakes (something they fixed 10 years post-release with optional stat/skill resets), you felt complete control over how your character developed.

In Diablo 3 every player will have access to every skill, every character will be summed up by their class title. A Barbarian, is a Barbarian. A Bounty Hunter, is a Bounty Hunter. A Monk, is a Monk. There is nothing that identifies you personally other than how you chose to use the skills provided for you, and from what I saw in the beta it's quite clear which skills excel at each type of situation.

But I'm biased. The Diablo series was a primal part of my gaming childhood, and with such warm memories it's hard to find fault, hard to believe anything other than "why fix what isn't broken?". I will reserve judgement, and considering Blizzard has yet to disappoint me thus far I see no reason to assume otherwise. I question though... lacking in-depth customization, will Diablo 3 stand the test of time as well as its predecessor?

Whatever the case I shall see for myself, my brother was awesome enough to pre-order it for me. :3 I hope to see ya'll on Scotty's TS on the 15th!

[Cactuscat222]

Hell is breaking loose.

I'm ready!

[Scotty]

Thoroughly impressed thus far with it.  Simple, dumb, Diablo hack-and-slash fun!

[Lucifer]

Alas I haven't been able to play yet, the servers were up and down all day yesterday, and when I could play I had terrible FPS. I had fps issues early during the beta, but as it updated and as Nvidia released new drivers the lag all but disappeared. Now my fps drops to 9 whenever I fight monsters or destroy any breakable object. :(

I'm really hoping this problem is not on my side, I mean purchased this new graphics card for the sole purpose of being able to play Diablo 3, I'll be sad if that wasn't enough.

[Scotty]

Alas I haven't been able to play yet, the servers were up and down all day yesterday, and when I could play I had terrible FPS. I had fps issues early during the beta, but as it updated and as Nvidia released new drivers the lag all but disappeared. Now my fps drops to 9 whenever I fight monsters or destroy any breakable object. :(

I'm really hoping this problem is not on my side, I mean purchased this new graphics card for the sole purpose of being able to play Diablo 3, I'll be sad if that wasn't enough.

I only played between 10PM-12AM EST, but didn't notice any FPS lag.  A couple of disconnects, but never anything FPS.