Topic: Diablo 3

[Sordid]

Well I for one agree about the overall art style. Yeah, the cartoony shit was already in D2, and I hated D2 because of it. Check these out: http://www.diii.net/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=759&size=big&cat=553
And I'm sorry to see the light radius go, too. It was pretty much useless in D2, but formed a core component of D1 gameplay. Turning the gamma up didn't do squat for you, because enemies simply were not displayed until they stepped into the light. Likewise, they didn't see you, and therefore didn't attack you. One very interesting tactic involved getting as many light-reducing items as possible, so that only the squares directly adjacent to your character were lit. Even an extremely weak character could then walk through the dungeon with impunity, taking enemies one at a time.

[doyama]

I think some people are confusing reality with a video game. Hyper realism can be a huge detriment to a game. Art design needs to serve both the needs of the artist, as well as the overall game play. Just some basic design choices are the ability to distinguish between different classes easily from a visual perspective. The light radius concept worked fine in a 2D environment, but in 3D it becomes a problem in that it becomes difficult to determine what areas are passable or impassible if you have a very limited visual radius. Also the increased resolution means that a light radius would have to be so large as to cover the entire screen anyways, or it would limit the kind of design choices you can have for rooms.

I think some people think they can design the game better, but the reality is that the playability of the game is more important.

[Sordid]

Uh, since when is anyone calling for realism?  The shopped screenshots are just as unrealistic as the vanilla ones, only in the opposite direction. A dark and gloomy game can absolutely be just as playable as a bright, pastel colored one, possibly even more so. One of the reasons I hated D2 was the overabundance of colorful effects. With all the fire and explosions it was impossible to see just what the fuck was going on and who was getting pummeled. And I really don't see how blue shining mist in dungeons enhances distinguishability of characters or any other aspect gameplay.
And the comment about light radius having to cover the whole screen due to higher resolution doesn't make any sense.

[Lzrd]

Go play Doom 3 if you don't like it.

And what's the point in seeing, much less fighting one or two monsters at a time? The whole point is to have hordes and hordes of stuff thrown at you. And I love the cartoony (if you can call it that, I wouldn't, but some insane people do) look, massive armor/weapon decor and ability visual effects. Who wants to look at a guy wearing diapers and holding a pointy stick take on the armies of Hell?

[Sordid]

And what's the point in seeing, much less fighting one or two monsters at a time?

Being able to kill monsters you wouldn't be able to kill had they attacked you in greater numbers?

[Lzrd]

2 points:
One: YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG

Two: You're playing the wrong genre then.

[Sordid]

One: I thought this was a board where reasonable responses to questions weren't frowned upon? I guess I was wrong, then.

Two: No, the Diablo franchise is becoming th wrong genre. It's gone from hack and slash to mindless hack and slash, and it's going in the mindless hack and slash with shitty graphics direction. Personally, I use Jagged Alliance 2 to indulge my tactical cravings.

[Lzrd]

You never played D2, did you?
Frozen orb times infinity is hardly tactically demanding.

[MisterMarc]

It's gone from hack and slash to mindless hack and slash, and it's going in the mindless hack and slash with shitty graphics direction.

I like hack and slash, personally. Frankly, the design of the game so far looks fucking amazing. I think they've gotten really creative with the monsters and spells and levels and such. I could agree that the color pallette is a titch bright, but it still looks like it's going to be great. It'll certainly blow the likes of D&D heroes and BG: Dark Allaince out of the water, which are the last hack&slash games I played.

[Sordid]

You never played D2, did you?
Frozen orb times infinity is hardly tactically demanding.

Exactly, which is why I called it mindless. Pay attention.

I like hack and slash, personally. Frankly, the design of the game so far looks fucking amazing. I think they've gotten really creative with the monsters and spells and levels and such. I could agree that the color pallette is a titch bright, but it still looks like it's going to be great. It'll certainly blow the likes of D&D heroes and BG: Dark Allaince out of the water, which are the last hack&slash games I played.

Oh absolutely, hack and slash is great fun. Mindless hack and slash not so much, at least not for me. And I don't really see the creativity you speak of. The Shaman seems to be a Necro knock-off, and a wall of zombies? That's just pathetic. It's the result of a thought process like this: "Okay, we want to give the Necro Shaman the wall-that-damages-enemies capability, but wall of fire is already taken, so let's brainstorm for something in keeping with the character's theme before we go for lunch." It's the opposite of creativity.
The only really new things that I saw so far are environment destructibility (which will become immensely boring after a while) and the shields actually used to block blows. That might be a very interesting gameplay mechanic if the players are also given this capability. Paladin blocking a door while the sorceress blasts the hordes inside, anyone?

[whitedevilbrewing]

I think you may be making overly heavy judgments given the small amount of information available and the length of time they have to work on the game.  Don't talk yourself out of it yet- keep in mind how good most of Blizz's games are.

[Sordid]

Eh, I'm not into MMOs or RTSs, so about the only franchise of theirs I enjoy is Diablo. Admittedly, I expected D2 to blow me away and was disappointed, so perhaps this time it will go the other way around.

[MisterMarc]

The Shaman seems to be a Necro knock-off, and a wall of zombies? That's just pathetic. It's the opposite of creativity.

"The opposite of creativity," I see....very good. Oh, well, I thought it was creative, though I must be monumentally naive. I also liked the locust swarm that the witchdoctor had, and the animation for the horror spell, and I liked the monsters that exploded into more monsters. Whatever, one man's meat and all that, I guess.

[Sordid]

Witchdoctor, that's what he's called! Couldn't remember. And monsters exploding into more monsters have been with us since the 80s, IIRC.

[Schlenkerb]

All this trash talking about Diablo III makes me only less happy that it will come out, eventually maybe possibly.

On another note, anyone still play D2? I just got back into it yesterday and have a lvl 70 sorc. (or was it two days ago?) She freaking sucks, has no damage at all. Lightning only does 2-5200 damage. X_X