Post by Seraph on Jul 2, 2008 9:11:21 GMT -6
I saw this overview on Shacknews and everything looks great, except this terribly bolded statement below:
Targeting a length similar to Diablo II, which ran four acts.
It's bad news bears for me. Diablo 2 was literally 2 act for all purposes. Three if you want to be sensitive about it. Most people tried to get out of act 1 ASAP, act two was a nice change of scenery but the majority of it all happened in Act 3 and Act 4, later Act 5 sorta replaced Act 4.
People were doing Act 3 for Rune swords, Meph, etc. Then Act 5 for everything else. Diablo got beefed up later via patches and Act 4 for the most part was a pain in the ass. Lots of elemental damage (Hell mode) and with very little in return. So the vast majority of time spent in D2 was, Act 3, Act 5, Cow Level.
So 4 or 5 acts of length...hmm. This day and age everything is bigger and better. We expect "bigger and better" there are more quality games now than ever before. You used to be able to pick up one or two really good games from each genre, nowadays I can easily choose a dozen really good games for each genre. Not to mention newer better games are replacing last years great games year after year. So 4-5 acts doesn't cut it for me for a Diablo sequel from the great Blizzard who is probably making more money from WoW than 80% of all gaming companies' yearly profits combined.
We got Diablo around the time it hit store shelves and we all picked up D2 the first week it came out if I remember. So no one can argue I'm no Diablo fan. But 2008 and similar length of gameplay to D2? Come on Blizzard, that company "brand" isn't going to hold you forever.
So after all is said and done and assuming at this point in time those features are not going to change. I personally want:
15 Acts hell how about 20! All in sizes the same as Act 5.
I want 10 Classes, yes 10, not 5. I want all the original classes from D1 and D2 and D2X
Make Amazon strictly Javelin/Spear Class
Make the D1 Ranger strictly bows/cross bows
Sorcerer from D1 is D2's Sorceress and with gender variation that class is taken care of.
Bring back the Warrior, make him a Dual Wielder specialist
Paladin: Same
Barbarian: Same
Assassin: Same
Druid: Same
Necro: Same
Witch Doctor: Make it like the Necro except it raises the dead mobs back up, kinda like what the Witch Doctors do in D2. Necro turns them into skellies, Witch Doctor would just raise them back up and control them. His skills would be more along the lines of summons and beefing up his raised mobs. While the Necro is more about undead, curses, and spectral magics (Like in D2)
Current Features
Largely follows in the style of past Diablo games.
Controls and camera kept simple, but depth of combat enhanced.
The story takes place 20 years after the events of Diablo II.
Greater emphasis has been placed on a character-driven story.
Targeting a length similar to Diablo II, which ran four acts.
Uses a new in-house 3D engine and the Havok physics engine.
Has been in development for four or five years. Was rebooted after Blizzard North shut down in March 2005.
The game is "really far along," and is "really fun to play already." (Source: GameSpot)
Dev team now up to 50-55 employees.
Will ship simultaneously on Mac and PC.
No plans for a console version.
No decisions made on financial model.
Blizzard challenged themselves to add color to the art style while maintaining the dark, gothic feel of the previous titles.
Targeting a length similar to Diablo II, which ran four acts.
It's bad news bears for me. Diablo 2 was literally 2 act for all purposes. Three if you want to be sensitive about it. Most people tried to get out of act 1 ASAP, act two was a nice change of scenery but the majority of it all happened in Act 3 and Act 4, later Act 5 sorta replaced Act 4.
People were doing Act 3 for Rune swords, Meph, etc. Then Act 5 for everything else. Diablo got beefed up later via patches and Act 4 for the most part was a pain in the ass. Lots of elemental damage (Hell mode) and with very little in return. So the vast majority of time spent in D2 was, Act 3, Act 5, Cow Level.
So 4 or 5 acts of length...hmm. This day and age everything is bigger and better. We expect "bigger and better" there are more quality games now than ever before. You used to be able to pick up one or two really good games from each genre, nowadays I can easily choose a dozen really good games for each genre. Not to mention newer better games are replacing last years great games year after year. So 4-5 acts doesn't cut it for me for a Diablo sequel from the great Blizzard who is probably making more money from WoW than 80% of all gaming companies' yearly profits combined.
We got Diablo around the time it hit store shelves and we all picked up D2 the first week it came out if I remember. So no one can argue I'm no Diablo fan. But 2008 and similar length of gameplay to D2? Come on Blizzard, that company "brand" isn't going to hold you forever.
So after all is said and done and assuming at this point in time those features are not going to change. I personally want:
15 Acts hell how about 20! All in sizes the same as Act 5.
I want 10 Classes, yes 10, not 5. I want all the original classes from D1 and D2 and D2X
Make Amazon strictly Javelin/Spear Class
Make the D1 Ranger strictly bows/cross bows
Sorcerer from D1 is D2's Sorceress and with gender variation that class is taken care of.
Bring back the Warrior, make him a Dual Wielder specialist
Paladin: Same
Barbarian: Same
Assassin: Same
Druid: Same
Necro: Same
Witch Doctor: Make it like the Necro except it raises the dead mobs back up, kinda like what the Witch Doctors do in D2. Necro turns them into skellies, Witch Doctor would just raise them back up and control them. His skills would be more along the lines of summons and beefing up his raised mobs. While the Necro is more about undead, curses, and spectral magics (Like in D2)
Current Features
Largely follows in the style of past Diablo games.
Controls and camera kept simple, but depth of combat enhanced.
The story takes place 20 years after the events of Diablo II.
Greater emphasis has been placed on a character-driven story.
Targeting a length similar to Diablo II, which ran four acts.
Uses a new in-house 3D engine and the Havok physics engine.
Has been in development for four or five years. Was rebooted after Blizzard North shut down in March 2005.
The game is "really far along," and is "really fun to play already." (Source: GameSpot)
Dev team now up to 50-55 employees.
Will ship simultaneously on Mac and PC.
No plans for a console version.
No decisions made on financial model.
Blizzard challenged themselves to add color to the art style while maintaining the dark, gothic feel of the previous titles.