Diablo III: Not Just a Vitality Race!

[AgentPaper]

News Alert!

You can now install Diablo 3 on your computer, if you've already downloaded it!

Which means the only thing left between us and Diablo 3 is a login screen.


So excited!

[Karoht]

Excited enough to use large red letters I see.

@Reduce Lag
Get better internet.
Barring that, turn your settings down.
I'm not getting lag on free internet down at a Starbucks, I'm looking forward to using their free internet and sipping a latte and annoying all the hipsters there with the sound of my barbarian making things explode.

Easy and cheap ways to affect your lag:
-New Network Card, depends on the age and type of your current card
-Second Network Card, bridge connection. It's been known the help.
-Proxy service. I've never looked into one, but I've been told they are awesome.
-New Router, if your connection goes through one, a new one might help
-New Modem from your internet provider, only relevant if you aren't on the most current modem type.
-Usage habits. Yes, you will get lag any time others on your connection do things like hit up youtube or netflix. Try playing when they aren't doing that, try getting them to not do that when you are playing.

[The_Jackal]

Heya, so, I've definitely got a question about Diablo 3, seeing that it's release is several hours away.

What's the best way to reduce lag with the game?

That's a very difficult question to answer, because what causes your lag can depend on a large variety of factors. The biggest, most consistent cause of lag is network conditions. Internet protocol is an 'as able' service, which means that if your game traffic encounters congestion, there's a chance it can be queued or dropped. Since game traffic is time-sensitive, queueing is often not preferrable to dropping, but ISPs don't have any way to determine what KIND of traffic is being transmitted, so they treat all traffic equally.

Which brings us back to what YOU can do:

1) Get a stable internet connection. I emphasize stable, because DIII game traffic won't require much bandwidth, but it's very, very sensitive to disruption in service, as I alluded to above. Many ISP will sell enhanced bandwidth services at the edge of the range at which signal attenuation starts to become a factor in service quality, which is a complicated way of saying that faster may not necessarily be better, if you're risking dropping packets due to poor signal quality. You can test the quality of your internet connection by running the following command on windows, from the command prompt (Start->Run->type in cmd): 'ping -n 1000 8.8.8.8'

8.8.8.8 is an any-cast route which points at publicly usable Google name servers, and should perform VERY well, and will give you a picture of the best possible performance for your internet service. If you see any packet loss, or spikes in round trip time, consider contacting your ISP and asking them to investigate the cause.

2) The second most common cause of game lag is poor resource usage on your client machine. If your internet connection is solid, the next spot to investigate a lagging connection is on your home system. Run the windows task manager and look at the performance tab to see how much CPU and memory your game is running. You'll sometimes find that Windows or other installed programs may intermittently grab resources and use them, without regard to what you're doing. Memory over-consumption is the most common problem, though CPU hog conditions can also result from poorly written code. If you're running out of memory intermittently, check and see how much you have installed. For a 32bit system, 4 GB is just a bit more than you system can use, and should be more than enough to run the game. If you're running 64bit, then you can use far, far more, but again, 4GB should be just fine for normal gaming use. If you've got less, consider upgrading your RAM. If you've got 4GB and are still consuming too much memory while playing, consider uninstalling or shutting down some of the programs you have installed on your system. Some classic culprits are Virus scanners, which tend to use lots of RAM and can self-initiate during play, and also a backgrounded web browser can also start to eat up RAM if left to run. You can identify processes and sort them by memory usage in the task manager, but be very careful that you're not killing processes which your operating system needs to function.

3) Manage your heat. Computer systems are quite sensitive to excessive levels of heat, and at even modest inlet temperatures, you can sometimes cause performance problems by letting your CPU or GPU overheat. While on a well-designed system in a normal controlled environment, this is a rarity, I'm often surprised how many people try to operate computers in sub-optimal conditions and then express frustration at the mediocre results they get. Make sure your computing area is cool (23 degrees centigrate or below, 75 fahrenheit), and ensure that your system's cooling system is operating properly. Fan failure, or an inadequate cooler can produce strange symptoms on your computer, and will eventually result in permanent damage. If you're specing out a new system, be wary of overclocking systems to get better performance, without adequate investment in cooling, you can cause more harm than good, and if you're in an environment where your climate may not be ideal, be sure to consider the heat signature of your GPU, which often will be doing the lion's share of the work, and therefore heat generation, of your computer.

PS: Avoid wireless like the plague. Wireless ethernet, wireless controllers, these are all vulnerable to RF interference, and designed to be as polite as possible, which simply means that if they detect interference, they'll wait to transmit. Older wireless systems also share the same bandwidth as newer, faster systems, so an old 802.11b device can hog all your air, leaving you high and dry.

[TechnOkami]

Okeypokey, thanks peoples.

Also: Downloading Now.

[Karoht]

My fiance's Collectors Edition box just arrived.
We both downloaded for nothing.
Oh well. Collectors Edition stuff!
She called me at work to loot brag.

Yeah, game hasn't even started, she's already got the first loot brag. Great.

PS-Totally worth the hundred bucks.

[Avilan the Grey]

Regarding viable builds: Right: the Trillion comment was wrong. on NIGHTMARE there are at least 2 trillion builds (counting all options for all classes) that are viable. Since Inferno is, per definition twice as hard as the most hardcore gamers working at Blizzard could barely handle (that's the actual difficulty)... the number of builds would go down sharply. However I am not interested in Inferno, I think. Especially due to the change of gameplay regarding builds (it is the only difficulty where you get punished for changing skills).

[Karoht]

However I am not interested in Inferno, I think. Especially due to the change of gameplay regarding builds (it is the only difficulty where you get punished for changing skills).

Punished for changing builds in Inferno? Bwah? How so?

[Aotrs Commander]

Amazon have dispatched my copy... So, could be here tomorrow, could be later. Wait and see, I guess...

[Zen Master]

Neither of those games were very casual accessible. The level of griefing that occurred in Ultima is legendary. They're also not hack'n'slash like Diablo.

I played UO for years. What griefing is this? I remember, from three years of playing, being waylaid by highwaymen on the road from Vesper to the capitol (I forget the name). I remember being cut down by a passing horseman when I was still hunting rabbits and birds. And, yea, that's it. A roleplaying hold-up, and a random pvp that sawed me in half.

Other then that, I've never been part of a friendlier community. Ever.

However, if by 'not hacknslash' you mean there were no endless hordes of enemies to carve a swath of blood and murder through, you'd be right. Frankly, I think too much on-screen action would have killed the engine =)

[AgentPaper]

Punished for changing builds in Inferno? Bwah? How so?

I think he's referring to the Blessing of the Nephilim, or whatever it's called, which goes away if you change spec. You can still change spec whenever you want, you just probably shouldn't do so until after you kill a boss and use up your bonus.

[Katana_Geldar]

OMG it's SOON!

Sorry, I've spent ten years waiting for this, and it's almost almost here. My fiance has my copy, and the servers go live at 5pm apparently.

[MammonAzrael]

I'm sitting here with my Collector's Edition, going through the art book (it's excellent), and the next three hours aren't passing fast enough!!!

What is everyone rolling for their first? I'm still undecided, but leaning towards Barbarian, as that's the most likely to feel the most continuous from D2, which I'd like to have in my initial play through.

[Othesemo]

I'm playing Monk, my brother's playing the Witch Doctor. Together, we shall enslave the free peoples of sanctuary and crush their hopes and dreams beneath our bare feet save the world!

[Starwulf]

I'll likely be dual-running Monk and Wizard. Monk will be first, I'll level wizard while my buddy is off at work. Installing the game right now.

[Katana_Geldar]

Two minutes left! I'm doing a Demonhunter.

[Katana_Geldar]

Forty right shades of flying ducks, why can't I get on????

[TechnOkami]

Forty right shades of flying ducks, why can't I get on????

I think the influx of anticipated fans is causing buckets of lag for Diablo III. I was tempted to say that Battle Net had crashed, but their website is still running, if albeit very slowly.

Oh, and I was able to login, and reached the character creator page, but I couldn't make a character due to probably the several million people trying to log in at the same time.

[Katana_Geldar]

It's like that everywhere. This is what I'll remember Diablo III for.

[TechnOkami]

No, I apparently was wrong. The influx of rabid fans did cause Battlenet to crash.

[Avilan the Grey]

I will buy it today, but I won't install it until tomorrow.
First characters will be a female Witch Doctor and a female Demon Hunter.

Also, apparently a number of players in the US thinks it is "unfair" that Asia and EU gets to start first and that the whole world should use the US start time...

Anyway, it really doesn't matter since the lag and overload of servers will be bad for a number of days.

[Starwulf]

Currently crying inside ><

[Katana_Geldar]

I got in! Did the first quest and logged off as it was dinnertime.

Now, I want to sit down and read the manual.

[The Succubus]

Dear Diablo 3-playing world,


I hate you


Signed,

A guy whose Collector's Edition has been delayed for 4 days by Amazon for no apparent reason. -.-

[Aotrs Commander]

Doesn't look like I'll be getting D3 today, then...

Under the circumstances, though, this may not be a great loss...!

You'd have thought Blizzard, of all people, would have been best prepared for the sudden server load...!

[Avilan the Grey]

Doesn't look like I'll be getting D3 today, then...

Under the circumstances, though, this may not be a great loss...!

You'd have thought Blizzard, of all people, would have been best prepared for the sudden server load...!

Well they have to strike a balance between this top, and the expected future average. They can't go all out and then have tens of unused servers.

Besides, they DID warn us, several days ago, that this might be a possibility.

[AgentPaper]

The servers seem to be stable now. Me and my friends have been playing for a while now.

[Aotrs Commander]

Besides, they DID warn us, several days ago, that this might be a possibility.

Well, in that case, fair enough, I guess. I'm not put out or anything (especially since I don't have D3 anyway yet!) I'm just amused is all.

(Shades of the annoucement of 4E, where in WotC had a big counter up all dau, counting down, so that when the counter reached zero, everybody and his mother on the forums (and the forums were probably the biggest single RPG forum around at the time) all clicked refresh at once and totally crashed the server. It was hilarious, and entirely self-inflicted on WotC's part, focussing everyone on that one moment...

And of course, that one instant marked the beginning of the end of the WotC forum use from my perspective as it fragmented the 3.x community - that's what lead me here as my primary forum, in fact, eventually. (Prior I'd posted here, but not frequently.))

[RedWarlock]

Got the free copy from the WoW annual pass. Currently downloading the client.

Planning on hitting up a couple stores later tonight to see if I can snag a collector's edition to upgrade my copy. (I've been getting CEs since warcraft 3, I've got a shelf to maintain here! Plus art book [squee].)

[polity4life]

Ahh. It's a nice way to start the morning with a freshly downloaded D3 waiting for me! I fixed myself a small bowl of cereal, a glass of soy milk, and spent fifteen minutes helping the beleaguered folks of New Tristram with OogieBoogie, the wacky witch doctor who hates pottery!

If anyone is looking for a screen filled with small spiders and eerie mists with creepy hands sprouting about, add me as a friend: polity4life#1340.

[Chen]

Regarding viable builds: Right: the Trillion comment was wrong. on NIGHTMARE there are at least 2 trillion builds (counting all options for all classes) that are viable. Since Inferno is, per definition twice as hard as the most hardcore gamers working at Blizzard could barely handle (that's the actual difficulty)... the number of builds would go down sharply. However I am not interested in Inferno, I think. Especially due to the change of gameplay regarding builds (it is the only difficulty where you get punished for changing skills).

I'm not sure what your point is here. The combination of all 3 wizard armors, teleport, diamond skin and some crappy non-attack skill may actually work on normal or even nightmare. I'd hardly call it a viable build.

Doesn't Nephalim valor buff effect every difficulty once you're 60? I didn't think it was only Inferno.