Diablo 3 Beta Live (Downloading Now)

Poordevil said:
I am really hoping this game is actually better than Diablo 2. With the Lord of Destruction expansion and all I kind of doubt it, but maybe Blizzard will surprise me.
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I've played through D2 and LoD and I have to say that D3 totally meets most of my expectations. The ambience and atmosphere in game are much much better than in D1 or D2, and graphic wise, night and day. I can't wait for retail.

Now if only the beta would work for me. I plan to beat the beta once with each class to see what I will be playing in retail.
 
Nearsite said:
I've played through D2 and LoD and I have to say that D3 totally meets most of my expectations. The ambience and atmosphere in game are much much better than in D1 or D2, and graphic wise, night and day. I can't wait for retail.

Now if only the beta would work for me. I plan to beat the beta once with each class to see what I will be playing in retail.
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I'm having a blast as a Demon Hunter. :D I hate that I can't connect most of the time... :mad:
 
I have played D2, havent downloaded D3 yet. Hope my lappy holds it, else will have to use my rig.
 
Yeah, it's impossible to get in most of the time. They're probably using the beta as an opportunity to stress-test the servers, so I don't think it'll be quite this bad at launch. Also, just as an FYI, if you get "Error 37" while trying to log in, that doesn't mean that the server is down, that just means that it's reached maximum capacity.

So far I'm really impressed with the game. The storyline picks up right where the last one left off and it's rather gripping, and the gameplay feels fluid and smooth. My only gripe is that the graphics could use some polishing. There aren't that many graphic settings to play around with, and each one only has three settings: Low, Medium, and Higher. No sliders to adjust, only a small handful of settings and a couple boxes for V-sync, MSAA, and a few other minor things.

On a brighter note, each and every class seems unique in their own regard, and each class has its own resource system now. I've only played Barbarian so far, which is your typical cookie-cutter warrior-type class and a Fury resource system that functions exactly like rage does for the Warrior in WoW. The visual animations are very well-done and the sounds of hacking and slashing have never been more satisfying. I'm really looking forward to trying out the Demon Hunter, which has two different resources, Hatred and Discipline. I'll be back later tonight with some more thoughts and maybe some screens.
 
My co-worker let me use his account to play the beta, and boy I'm glad I did cause it saved me $60. This is a complete joke. No attribute point assignment, no skill point assignment?? Are you kidding me!? And the skill tree/system...I don't even know what to say...I'm just sad... I read they were going to make the game like this, but I had held out hope that they would reconsider.

Sorry, I know some of you are really enjoying this, but damn am I disappointed right now. I was saving a week of vacation to take off and play this...guess I'll take a trip...
 
B2BigAl said:
My co-worker let me use his account to play the beta, and boy I'm glad I did cause it saved me $60. This is a complete joke. No attribute point assignment, no skill point assignment?? Are you kidding me!? And the skill tree/system...I don't even know what to say...I'm just sad... I read they were going to make the game like this, but I had held out hope that they would reconsider.

Sorry, I know some of you are really enjoying this, but damn am I disappointed right now. I was saving a week of vacation to take off and play this...guess I'll take a trip...
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Oh god, here we go with this terrible argument for the hundredth time.

Strength - Add the absolute least amount of points required to equip your highest strength requiring gear
Dexterity - Add none or just enough to reach max block
Vitality - Add every single point you possibly can
Energy - LOL

That's how 9 out of 10 builds were. So much customization!!!!

Oh, and skill points? Hoard all your points until you get to whatever level you start unlocking one of the very few skills you will use. This meant having to suffer from levels 1 through 18-24 usually. It meant having to suffer through endless "Rush Me Plz" and "Tomb Runs-01" games so you can leech xp and get to that level where you can start spending the skill points you've been hoarding. So fun!!!!!

Sorry, but D3 skill/stat system >>>> D2 skill/stat system
 
*edit* Looks like I got beat to the punch

Runed active abilities and passive skills are where you get most of your customization. They can completely change an ability so there are tons of combinations to try out.

I agree with them that stat placement can be removed. Setting strength to just enough for your armor, dex to whatever block you want, and rest in vitality is kind of dull. Also, skill trees are played out. They pigeonhole you into using a small number of abilities and don't really give you much choice since you end up needing to put your points in +damage on those abilities.

Basically you get way more usable customization with this new setup.
 
ccg07 said:
*edit* Looks like I got beat to the punch

Runed active abilities and passive skills are where you get most of your customization. They can completely change an ability so there are tons of combinations to try out.

I agree with them that stat placement can be removed. Setting strength to just enough for your armor, dex to whatever block you want, and rest in vitality is kind of dull. Also, skill trees are played out. They pigeonhole you into using a small number of abilities and don't really give you much choice since you end up needing to put your points in +damage on those abilities.

Basically you get way more usable customization with this new setup.
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Don't tell that to the people stuck in the year 2001. That's not what they want to hear!!!
 
Yep, rather than waste time yearning for old features, one should try to contemplate the reasoning behind the new features. Having played through the beta, I already feel torn between several neat skills that I can only have up to 6 of in the future. and only 3 passives out of a ton of passives as well. This will make decisions and preferences a bit more interesting.
 
Not gonna lie, as much as I've loved every other Diablo game, I just couldn't get into it. I think a huge part of that is because it's the beta and not entirely polished, so I will still give it a try when it (finally) gets officially released.

However, good luck and have fun to all those who got into the latest beta invites!
 
Im not a fan of the graphics. Its to "WOW" for my taste.
The gameplay is fun and repetitive. I hate how the items look in inventory and especially hate(!!!) how they put a big red X over items your class cant equip.
The way skills are done is asinine IMO.

The game seems like it would be more appropriate as a whole new title and not "Diablo 3"
6/10 so far....waiting to see how fun it is when long play comes into the equation.

I still have 4-5 of my chars I made back in July 2000; I will be sad to seem them go.
 
Superhuman said:
Oh god, here we go with this terrible argument for the hundredth time.

Strength - Add the absolute least amount of points required to equip your highest strength requiring gear
Dexterity - Add none or just enough to reach max block
Vitality - Add every single point you possibly can
Energy - LOL

That's how 9 out of 10 builds were. So much customization!!!!

Oh, and skill points? Hoard all your points until you get to whatever level you start unlocking one of the very few skills you will use. This meant having to suffer from levels 1 through 18-24 usually. It meant having to suffer through endless "Rush Me Plz" and "Tomb Runs-01" games so you can leech xp and get to that level where you can start spending the skill points you've been hoarding. So fun!!!!!

Sorry, but D3 skill/stat system >>>> D2 skill/stat system
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D3s system is only better if you lack the brainpower to come up with other builds.

D3 is being catered to a different audience than D2 was. D3 is for the xbox yuppies that need big numbers, and need to have their hand held throughout the game.

D3 is for the lazy gamer who wants to buy all his items on the RMAH, and only want have one character for each class that can be any class role, whenever it wants.

Edit: Summed up the game for the hundredth time.
 
CryingGod said:
D3s system is only better if you lack the brainpower to come up with other builds.

D3 is being catered to a different audience than D2 was. D3 is for the xbox yuppies that need big numbers, and need to have their hand held throughout the game.

D3 is for the lazy gamer who wants to buy all his items on the RMAH, and only want have one character for each class that can be any class role, whenever it wants.

Edit: Summed up the game for the hundredth time.
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Summed up the game???

Amazing you can sum up a game that isn't even released. Can you tell me where you bought your time machine from? I'd like one so I can go back in time and make myself rich. Just PM the name of the store you got it from and I'll take it from there.
 
CryingGod said:
D3s system is only better if you lack the brainpower to come up with other builds.
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protip: there are no other stat builds for d2

the only difference then between d2 and d3 is that d2 had a strict skill system whereas d3 allows you to swap them out at will, rather than requiring you to waste a day farming another char back up to the 80s
 
If you only played PvM in D2 then its going to be a better game
If you played PvP then you got about 100x more play time out of it due to all the other build options
D3 does not have this, its very static it seems. Hopefully lategame changes this in some way otherwise this game isnt going to have half the life D2 did.
 
Some further thoughts:
-Game is choppy when you first load it up, loading a new area/monsters can be a little sluggish but eventually it smooths out. A little annoying.
-You can zoom in by hitting Z, but there are only two preset camera distances. A scroll-wheel operated zoom function a la RTS style would be neat
-Interface is somewhat clunky. Might just be because I'm used to WoW's hotkeys; I tend to hit "B" when I want to look in my bags, now I have to hit "I" to open my inventory, which is much harder to reach with the left hand and you want to have your right hand sitting on the mouse all the time. Haven't checked to see if you can change keybinds but the default setup is a bit bothersome.
-Font size of some parts of the UI could be increased, I'm finding myself leaning forward to read some of the text. No UI scale option.
-Still peeved that there are only about 4 graphics settings with only Low-Med-High options for each. Really hoping they up the graphics before release. I like the cartoony look that Blizzard has (this one is a bit darker than Warcraft, by virtue of being Diablo) but it still looks very dated.

Still having a blast, though. It's definitely taken me away from BF3 (although my trigger finger is itching now)
 
I'm slightly disappointed by the whole attribute system not being customizable, but as many people pointed out, 99% of people who PvP'd ended up with the same builds anyway. Seeing as that is the case, I don't think it will be any less enjoyable in terms of replay value than D2.

I don't know how I feel about the auction house accepting real money though. I know people sold stuff on outside forums anyway in D2, but I still find it odd incorporating it into the game. It might do away with a lot of the message spammers though that existed in D2.

I've also only been able to play one night since I've had the key. Every other night the servers are down for some reason or another. It's a free beta though so I guess I can't be angry at Blizzard for it.
 
The server was up quite a bit yesterday but I never got a chance to login due to the lovely error 37 server load cap. I'm having an absolute blast as a demon hunter but not getting as much time to play it as I'd like...
 
Stat points were a horrible, archaic way of adding "customization" to the game. Each class inevitably had cookie cutter builds, and for the most part you only utilized a few skills. Having 6 abilities that you're always going to be using is amazing. The game feels so much more diverse at the lower levels than Diablo 2. You don't save skill points just to wait until you reach a certain level to enable your best skill. You don't mindlessly pump stat points to make your character the best it can be. They allow you to experiment, create your own skill combinations and it's ultimately a more enjoyable experience. You can write the game off any way you want to, but until you sit and play through the beta a few times, you're being ignorant.
 
Decko87 said:
Stat points were a horrible, archaic way of adding "customization" to the game. Each class inevitably had cookie cutter builds, and for the most part you only utilized a few skills. Having 6 abilities that you're always going to be using is amazing. The game feels so much more diverse at the lower levels than Diablo 2. You don't save skill points just to wait until you reach a certain level to enable your best skill. You don't mindlessly pump stat points to make your character the best it can be. They allow you to experiment, create your own skill combinations and it's ultimately a more enjoyable experience. You can write the game off any way you want to, but until you sit and play through the beta a few times, you're being ignorant.
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+1

I actually like the fact that I don't have to jack with skill & attribute points. Utilizing customization through skills & gear make it a whole lot better. Hell... even better than WoW's system IMHO. I hope that high level customization will pay off a lot.
 
Actually, the game played quite smoothly for me, albeit the texture quality could use a bump. I'm betting the beta client doesn't have the high res textures for character models. Can't complain about speed, the levels load almost instantly, and I didn't detect any lag.
 
Decko87 said:
Stat points were a horrible, archaic way of adding "customization" to the game. Each class inevitably had cookie cutter builds, and for the most part you only utilized a few skills. Having 6 abilities that you're always going to be using is amazing. The game feels so much more diverse at the lower levels than Diablo 2. You don't save skill points just to wait until you reach a certain level to enable your best skill. You don't mindlessly pump stat points to make your character the best it can be. They allow you to experiment, create your own skill combinations and it's ultimately a more enjoyable experience. You can write the game off any way you want to, but until you sit and play through the beta a few times, you're being ignorant.
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I couldn't agree with you more. Even in WoW, there are really only a few builds you want to use for each spec depending if you want to PVE or PVP. The skill point system gives you the illusion that you have options, but as you get deeper into the game, you're going to end up going online to find the 'best build' for your class and to that extent, you're going to use that 'best' build for whatever it is you want to do. Glyphs have helped out a little bit to customize each classes' core skills but still, true customization is limited. It's nearly impossible to balance a game so that no matter how you assign skill points, you'll still be competitive.

I think games are going this way as Guild Wars system is this way where you eventually have access to all the skills of your class, but you can only bring 8 of them with you. Certainly, some new MMO's are going this way (Secret World - looks very promising).

Let's see how this new way of customizing your character works out in D3 before we totally write it off becuase you may be surprised at how versatile, and more importantly 'fun' it can be.
 
I agree with getting rid of the stat based system only because the character classes are specifically setup for their respective roles. If this were Skyrim or something then we would have problems, but with D3 your not going to see Wizards running around with two handers and heavy armors.
 
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