A game designer's opinion about Diablo III
Disclaimer: I have only played Diablo 1 for about 50 hours and Diablo 2 for... longer than I care to admit. I have played Diablo 3 since 1.0.4. I recognize that things have changed since release.
I've seen a lot of vicious complaints aimed at Blizzard with regard to Diablo 3. These complaints are often unfounded, and are based mainly on a desire for things not to change.
I've been through all of Hell with a Monk in softcore and most of Act III on Nightmare in hardcore with a Wizard. I have been constantly impressed with the quality of the game design decisions that have been made, with very few exceptions. The overall quality of the graphics, sound, gameplay and interfacing is just what I would expect from Blizzard.
As with Starcraft II, in your first 10 minutes you get this weird feeling: "My god, it hasn't changed. What have they been doing all these years?!?" Then over the next week of play, the subtle changes begin to appear. For example, in D2, you only get new abilities unlocked at levels 6, 12, 18, 24, and 30. In D3, you get new abilities unlocked every level. The new Rune system seems too simple at first, but it has a very clear design goal in mind.
Their move to hide Elective mode for your first playthrough, yet make it available if you happen to read about it and want it was nothing short of brilliant. My first build was very balanced because of this. But as soon as I hit Nightmare, it told me about elective mode, and I started customizing. But I did so with confidence because I had already been through the game once.
The recent changes to Crowd Control effects are great. I can really feel the difference with my 47 HC Wizard. If you doubt the care with which Blizzard approaches game design, read about those changes here: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/7100052/
I even went back to play D2 just to see how it compared after getting used to D3. Here are things I do not miss from D2:
* Stamina bar
* Town Portal and Identify Scrolls
* Potion slots and the whole belt system
* Mana potions
* Slowly regenerating mana
* Mule characters
* The difference between red, blue and purple potions
* Stat point allocation
* STR to equip (requires special knowledge: need 75 Str on Necro/Sorcerer to use 3-diamond Tower Shield)
* Stygian Dolls
* The jungle
* Not being able to unsocket and keep gems (and having to look up a Cube formula to destroy socketed gems/runes)
* Horadric Cube recipes (just internet lookup - not really fun)
* Re-clicking to retarget after a monster dies
* The potential to consider whether or not it's worth opening the skill menu to use a skill that you don't have hotkeyed. (Interface should not intrude on gameplay in such a way)
Diablo 2 was great for its time, and still is playable. But there were many things in it that were too nitpicky without gameplay benefit. Diablo 3 is a much smoother, more polished game.
So I say to Blizzard: Thanks for another great game. Keep up the great work, and I love it that D3 is getting such great post-release support.
I've seen a lot of vicious complaints aimed at Blizzard with regard to Diablo 3. These complaints are often unfounded, and are based mainly on a desire for things not to change.
I've been through all of Hell with a Monk in softcore and most of Act III on Nightmare in hardcore with a Wizard. I have been constantly impressed with the quality of the game design decisions that have been made, with very few exceptions. The overall quality of the graphics, sound, gameplay and interfacing is just what I would expect from Blizzard.
As with Starcraft II, in your first 10 minutes you get this weird feeling: "My god, it hasn't changed. What have they been doing all these years?!?" Then over the next week of play, the subtle changes begin to appear. For example, in D2, you only get new abilities unlocked at levels 6, 12, 18, 24, and 30. In D3, you get new abilities unlocked every level. The new Rune system seems too simple at first, but it has a very clear design goal in mind.
Their move to hide Elective mode for your first playthrough, yet make it available if you happen to read about it and want it was nothing short of brilliant. My first build was very balanced because of this. But as soon as I hit Nightmare, it told me about elective mode, and I started customizing. But I did so with confidence because I had already been through the game once.
The recent changes to Crowd Control effects are great. I can really feel the difference with my 47 HC Wizard. If you doubt the care with which Blizzard approaches game design, read about those changes here: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/7100052/
I even went back to play D2 just to see how it compared after getting used to D3. Here are things I do not miss from D2:
* Stamina bar
* Town Portal and Identify Scrolls
* Potion slots and the whole belt system
* Mana potions
* Slowly regenerating mana
* Mule characters
* The difference between red, blue and purple potions
* Stat point allocation
* STR to equip (requires special knowledge: need 75 Str on Necro/Sorcerer to use 3-diamond Tower Shield)
* Stygian Dolls
* The jungle
* Not being able to unsocket and keep gems (and having to look up a Cube formula to destroy socketed gems/runes)
* Horadric Cube recipes (just internet lookup - not really fun)
* Re-clicking to retarget after a monster dies
* The potential to consider whether or not it's worth opening the skill menu to use a skill that you don't have hotkeyed. (Interface should not intrude on gameplay in such a way)
Diablo 2 was great for its time, and still is playable. But there were many things in it that were too nitpicky without gameplay benefit. Diablo 3 is a much smoother, more polished game.
So I say to Blizzard: Thanks for another great game. Keep up the great work, and I love it that D3 is getting such great post-release support.
posted by Almo at 4:43 PM
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