Tim_N
6361
Can someone please explain two things to me (as someone who is familiar with MMO economies, but not really ARPG ones):
-
What is the logic behind making some rares better than legendaries / set items? I have read a dozen people saying “I understand the reason why rares are the best items in the game”, but it’s never spelt out (at least that I have seen).
-
Why don’t they make every item in the game “bind on equip”, to give items on the AH more value and so on?
Their reasoning is that if they made Legendaries superior in all or most cases, then the game would have to end when you found “best-in-slot” for each slot.
It’s a pretty good reason, but their mistake is how they made Legendaries not only inferior in most cases - but BORING and non-distinct.
In my opinion, the best way to handle Legendary items is to make them EQUAL (or very slightly below) in power to the best rares - but have them be much less random and much more distinct. The best way to give them equal power is to give them unique powers that might not give you the best straight-up numbers, but additional gameplay features or access to “quirky” builds that can only work well with such items.
Their entire item design smacks of streamlining and lacking vision.
- Why don’t they make every item in the game “bind on equip”, to give items on the AH more value and so on?
I haven’t heard a direct quote on this, but I think they want it to be as flexible as possible.
Personally, judging by the recent Q/A session - I think they included the AH without thinking it through AT ALL. They should either have dropped the feature entirely, or have AH be a totally integrated part of the game - not an option. Because without tuning drops for the AH - the people going to the AH will have a VAST advantage over those who don’t. Yes, that matters in a multiplayer game like this.
Everything special about the loot hunt is ruined by crappy legendaries/set items and having them listed on the AH by the hundreds for each one. They have zero luster - and that’s a pretty huge mistake.
I’ve just hit the Act II inferno wall, and it’s the first point in the game I’ve found myself having to grind. I’ve gone all the way through hell with both a wizard and a monk with few problems using the drops the game’s given me. So, in my opinion the game is perfectly doable up to inferno with no auction house and no real grinding. Clearly though, that’s just my experience and a lot of people in this thread feel differently, so I’ll agree to disagree.
Yes, the game is doable UP TO Inferno without the AH - but the game doesn’t end until Inferno is done.
Also, I’m sure there’s a chance of gettting gear that’s so great in terms of stats - that you can do most of Inferno without AH - but that chance is not going to work for the majority.
Blizzard themselves have admitted that they need to change drop rates.
Yes, the game is doable UP TO Inferno without the AH - but the game doesn’t end until Inferno is done.
Also, I’m sure there’s a chance of gettting gear that’s so great in terms of stats - that you can do most of Inferno without AH - but that chance is not going to work for the majority.
Blizzard themselves have admitted that they need to change drop rates.
To help put things in perspective, to those that remember DII on release (not me), were people playing and completing Inferno a month or two after release, or did it take much, much longer to get there?
This, and adding to it, has the AH just ended up spoiling the journey by making great items easily accessible at low cost? If there was no AH in DIII, would we all be in this thread, halfway through NM, talking about the cool shit we had found and all those times we were so close to beating that elite, rather than the ‘shitty’ drop rate?
BobM
6367
I think D3 would be a much better game without the AH.
Every item my wizard is equipped with came from the AH. In my own game, I have not found a single item to compete with what I can buy on the AH for less than 5K.
Thinking of going hardcore with another character with no AH.
Marcus
6368
Fuck that on HC I have even more of a reason to use the AH.
HC is a neat enough feature, but it’s an incredibly poor fit for D3 - especially without a ladder mode.
What’s a ladder mode? Like donkey kong?
It’s a race to max level - which makes HC a meaningful challenge, rather than a corwardice/exploit competition.
I wish that’s how Legendaries worked as well. I know Blizzard has said that they intend to fix Legendaries by imrpoving their stats, but I’d rather they gave them unique qualities instead.
I discovered a way to keep D3 feeling fresh so I can maintain interest: start new characters of different classes and then switch between characters after 1-2 main checkpoints. That way I’m using different skills, have different equipment, and need to use different strategies. And I get the great low-level loot finding to make me happy.
Which means there’s going to be very little life left in D3 if I can’t get myself hooked. At least it’ll have been worth my time & money.
Eh, I guess if you view the game as some kind of competitive serious business thing, that’s true. However, I’m having a really good time with HC so far just playing at my own pace, trying to see how far I can get to beat my own personal records.
I’m strictly speaking about my own personal opinion about what HC does for the game.
How many high level characters have you lost so far?
I’ve only been playing HC for about a week, and haven’t gotten any character too deep yet. I’ll admit that I’m probably much more casual about this game than most people posting here, but I can see myself plugging away at it for a while.
KevinC
6377
I love the concept of hardcore but I always found it a poor fit for these type of games where there is so much potential for cheap-shot deaths (especially with certain ridiculous Elite/Champion affix combinations in D3!). I almost wish they would double HP pools or something in HC… I really like the risk of permanent death, but I don’t get much enjoyment out of opening a door and gibbing instantly.
Well, that’s the point, isn’t it? You have to select your skills, runes, and gear differently. You have to proceed at a different pace. There’s a sense of underlying tension because you never know what is behind the next turn/door/dune.
KevinC
6379
I get that, my problem is that regardless of how you choose those things, you’re still going to get fucked by some Fast Horde Invulnerable fucker on the higher difficulties. I like the high risk concept, but I don’t like it when a death is outside my input/control as a player. If I die, I want it to be because I took too many risks such as not taking enough survivability/defense abilities or pushing into a higher level area I was ready for - or even dying because I just plain messed up and didn’t time something right, or was too slow to react.
Getting instantly gibbed by an affix combo that you can’t defend against (or retreat from) kind of ruins it for me personally. I’m not saying it’s broken or needs to be fixed, but it’s why I can’t get into hardcore on these games, despite wanting to.
Yeah, the game is just not suited for HC unless you’re ridiculously and unnaturally cautious - which means you have to be a major coward. Doesn’t really feel hardcore to me, though I suppose the artificial tension can enhance the fun for those into that.
I know myself well enough to avoid such frustrations, because there will eventually come a day when I’m tired or irritable - and I will mess up and die due to some tiny mistake. That, or a bee flies infront of my face, the connection is lost, the server coughs or so on.
I know it’s just me - and not necessarily the concept of Hardcore, I just never really got into it. It seems needlessly self-punishing, but then again - so does no-respecs for people who don’t enjoy planning strategically for the long-term. I love the concept of no-respec, because it brings meaning to builds and plans. It’s just about personal preferences, like always.
