Anyone looking forward to buying a new mouse? What about the overall productivity plunge over the ensuing months? Are you currently in the beta for the world's most popular roguelike?
Heh. The beta (even closed beta) is over since May 1. Ever since then, everyone I know is talking about "Um. What do I play while I wait for D3 to come out?"
I'm sure there are plenty of flash games that let you repeatedly click your mouse at a target to achieve the same feeling of mindless gameplay. Alternatively you can buy a large piece of wood and a wood chipper and repeatedly hack away at it :P
Hard to say how D3 will pan out at this point in it all---still I can't help but reckon there might be more to glean and/or make a go of it from the indie Path of Exile instead.
While I can agree that the repeatedly clicking mindlessness of "diablo-likes", I think it's worth recognizing that roguelikes are the only game I've ever played that have a button wired up to "explored this level and kill all the monsters for me". :P
I think all genres suffer from failings. Players that dislike that genre will grab on to the failing; players that like the genre will completely overlook it.
Heck, even CRPG I've played in the past 30 years can be reduced down to: Kill stuff for XP, Level up, Kill stronger stuff for XP, ... do we all just overlook the fact that every fight still takes x seconds?
I tried the beta during the open weekend a couple weeks back. The visual detail impressed me quite a bit, especially inside the cathedral. The visual quality was surprising because I hadn't really liked the static screenshots I'd seen. The sound effects were also very well done.
Gameplay was very simplistic, but during the short open beta period I was unable to progress to the point where there were a large number of skills to choose from. Similarly I never found any gems, and the crafting system was just starting to open up a bit when I finished. Basically I don't think I got to play enough to experience the game the way it's meant to be played, as the opening stuff is pretty much just a tutorial.
Yeah, I'll most likely play D3, if only to be able to compare it to Torchlight 2 (which I've preordered). I was actually a bit put off by the high price tag on D3. It's not that I can't afford the 60 euros Blizzard want for the game, it's just that it feels a bit too much. I know how well Blizzard is at making the income from a game and I'm pretty sure they will maximize the profits from the new Auction House. The T2 price in comparison was almost a bit too low...
How many people do you think will make enough money from the auction house to pay for the inevitable expansions where those bastards give us the Necromancer back instead of that lame voodoo priest. (which i will totally play, sigh...)
In related news, the Torchlight 2 open beta is this weekend. I've played about an hour so far. As expected, the graphics are not nearly as detailed as D3 (lower budget and all that)... but I'm really liking the level design so far. The procedural content is quite impressive; it looks a lot more natural than the how things stitched together in TL1. The outdoor areas feel a lot nicer than Diablo 3's, even if the graphics are more cartoonish.
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D3 FTW! (hopefully)
Let's not forget TL2 which supposedly will come "one month after" :)
Heh. The beta (even closed beta) is over since May 1. Ever since then, everyone I know is talking about "Um. What do I play while I wait for D3 to come out?"
I'm sure there are plenty of flash games that let you repeatedly click your mouse at a target to achieve the same feeling of mindless gameplay. Alternatively you can buy a large piece of wood and a wood chipper and repeatedly hack away at it :P
Ah, yes. "Fun". DGrey has dismissed that claim.
Hard to say how D3 will pan out at this point in it all---still I can't help but reckon there might be more to glean and/or make a go of it from the indie Path of Exile instead.
While I can agree that the repeatedly clicking mindlessness of "diablo-likes", I think it's worth recognizing that roguelikes are the only game I've ever played that have a button wired up to "explored this level and kill all the monsters for me". :P
I think all genres suffer from failings. Players that dislike that genre will grab on to the failing; players that like the genre will completely overlook it.
Heck, even CRPG I've played in the past 30 years can be reduced down to: Kill stuff for XP, Level up, Kill stronger stuff for XP, ... do we all just overlook the fact that every fight still takes x seconds?
I tried the beta during the open weekend a couple weeks back. The visual detail impressed me quite a bit, especially inside the cathedral. The visual quality was surprising because I hadn't really liked the static screenshots I'd seen. The sound effects were also very well done.
Gameplay was very simplistic, but during the short open beta period I was unable to progress to the point where there were a large number of skills to choose from. Similarly I never found any gems, and the crafting system was just starting to open up a bit when I finished. Basically I don't think I got to play enough to experience the game the way it's meant to be played, as the opening stuff is pretty much just a tutorial.
Yeah, I'll most likely play D3, if only to be able to compare it to Torchlight 2 (which I've preordered). I was actually a bit put off by the high price tag on D3. It's not that I can't afford the 60 euros Blizzard want for the game, it's just that it feels a bit too much. I know how well Blizzard is at making the income from a game and I'm pretty sure they will maximize the profits from the new Auction House. The T2 price in comparison was almost a bit too low...
How many people do you think will make enough money from the auction house to pay for the inevitable expansions where those bastards give us the Necromancer back instead of that lame voodoo priest. (which i will totally play, sigh...)
Blizzard looks to be going the premium and freemium route on this game. I don't like that. Full price AND they are taking a cut of my trades?
We'll see how it goes. I'm actually more excited about Tribes Ascendency and the new WoW expansion.
In related news, the Torchlight 2 open beta is this weekend. I've played about an hour so far. As expected, the graphics are not nearly as detailed as D3 (lower budget and all that)... but I'm really liking the level design so far. The procedural content is quite impressive; it looks a lot more natural than the how things stitched together in TL1. The outdoor areas feel a lot nicer than Diablo 3's, even if the graphics are more cartoonish.
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